Road to Discovery
by Amationary
Summary: Life is all about goals. With no goals you have no direction, and having no direction is a surefire way to end up in an early grave. Nao has many goals. The most important one, though, is survival, and Nao will do anything to achieve her goal.
1. Beginnings

The market street is always abuzz with activity during rush hour, today being no exception.

In stark contrast to the rest of the day - where a slow, lazy trickle of people is the norm - people are rushing past, clearly in a hurry. Whether it's vendors loudly advertising their wears, customers haggling or those simply passing through, everyone has something to do or somewhere to be and sees no reason to dawdle.

Indeed, no one spares Nao a second glance, which is just the way she likes it.

Leaning against a wall at the mouth of an alley, she surreptitiously surveys the crowd, scoping out the easy targets from the more difficult ones and mentally categorising them by their apparent wealth.

Most have only recently got out of work and are scurrying to get home. Simple enough targets but not the type to have any valuables or much money on them and would most likely end up being more trouble than they're worth. A few couples are chatting and meandering down the street with handbags and wearing some fancy looking bracelets, but groups are always a risky business and those lovebirds are eyeing each other like hawks- it'd be difficult to go unnoticed by both of them at the same time.

Huffing out a sigh, Nao takes a step away from the wall and is about to leave and try again later when an older man on the far edge of the street catches her eye. Clad in basic yet high-quality clothing, including a worn leather watch, it's clear from his pale skin and dusty blond hair that he's a tourist passing through. Leaning over to check out the blacksmith's blades, he looks thoroughly distracted and she spies the top of a wallet peeking out from his back pocket, the thing practically begging to be taken.

Well, if he's going to make it that easy who's she to deny him? Call it the 'authentic local experience.'

Slipping into the mass of people she begins manoeuvring between pedestrians, narrowly avoiding being kneed in the gut several times by careless adults who don't think to look where they're going. Honestly, how hard is it to look down every once in a while? Ah well, it's working in her favour at the moment anyway, and she arrives a few meters behind her unsuspecting target with little fanfare and without attracting unwanted attention. No one looks twice at a scrawny homeless kid, after all, the sight a dime a dozen in this part of town.

Crouching to fiddle with the twine tying the hem of her pants to her ankles, Nao keeps a careful eye on the man and waits. When she'd first started doing this she would rush in thoughtlessly, an amateurs mistake. Now she knows better. Watching as he swaps a few quick words with the blacksmith, once it looks like he's about to leave she stands up, speed walking so that she bumps into him as he turns away from the stall, transferring the wallet from his pocket to hers in the same motion.

Half-feigning a stumble, she's about to call it a job well done and blend back into the crowd when a hand grabs her by the wrist.

Heart leaping into her throat, she turns to look the man in the face, trying to act nonchalant. He doesn't _seem _angry - not yet at least - but she knows from experience that can change at any moment.

Looking down at her with a slight crease in his brow, when he speaks it's a deep and rough sound, worn from disuse. "You alright, kid?"

Blinking owlishly and staring blankly, she breaks into a grin as the hand he held captive fidgeted. "Sorry, mister! Didn't see ya there is all."

As he gives her one last once-over she hopes he can't hear the rapid beat of her heart or see the sweat beading on her forehead, praying he's as dumb as he looks and won't think to check his pocket. Evidently he isn't the sharpest knife in the block because he lets go after a few tense seconds, giving her one last look before huffing out an "it's alright" and continuing on his way.

Child's play.

Wasting no time, Nao darts back into the thinning swarm of people, heading down zig-zagging side-streets to ensure that when he inevitably puts two and two together that there's no way he'll be able to find her. Only once she's a good ways away does she allow herself to stop in another alley to check the loot.

Smirking, Nao holds up the watch she'd nicked to the light, seeing where the leather had worn thin and there were scuff marks on the metal. A pawn shop wouldn't give much for it, that's for sure, but she's been meaning to get a watch anyhow and this one will do nicely. Wrapping it around her left wrist she looks around to ensure no one's about to jump her before taking out the wallet to inspect its contents, letting out a low whistle at the wad of bills inside. There's enough cash for a weeks worth of food, maybe more if she stretches it a bit.

There's also a faded photo that she pointedly doesn't look at and a couple bits of ID she treats similarly.

Stuffing it all back into her front pocket, she's about to head back out when the sound of light footsteps reaches her, likely only heard because of how quiet it is. Glancing over her shoulder, she cursed her luck, turning around fully to give her approacher a wide smile.

"Sparrow, you shit, where is it?" The older boy half-yelled, likely to avoid attention. As he got nearer she could see that he'd grown a bit since she last saw him, but puberty and a good diet 'll do that, she supposes.

"Ah, Magpie, I was hopin' to see your mug around here soon. How's ya brother doing?"

Looking like he's stepped in something particularly foul, his face twists barely-concealed revulsion. "Cut the crap, where's the money?"

He's scarcely a few meters away now and panic flares as she backs up, holding up her hands in a placating manner. "Look, I ain't got it yet, 'kay? Jus' give me some time-"

He doesn't wait for her to finish before lunging and she scrambles to get away, stumbling in her haste, and he manages to grab her by the collar- slamming her back into the wall.

He's close enough that she can see the dark bruise on his jaw and cuts on his face, can smell the old, crusted blood and feel his oily hair on her face. When he opens his mouth to talk she catches a strong whiff of brandy and scrunches up her nose in disgust. "You've had enough time, you've had nothing but time. It's time to deliver, little Sparrow. You know how Crow gets when he's angry. You don't want him _angry,_ now, do you?"

"By the looks of your face, I reckon he's already pretty pissed. Did he break that nose of yours while he was at it or was it always that ugly? I can't remember." A punch to the gut had her doubling over and he threw her down to the ground, kicking her in the face when she tried to get back up, forcing her to lean back on her hands. The telltale feeling of blood in her mouth says her lip is probably busted and her rips feel bruised, but she laughs anyway. "Still as sensitive as ever, eh? Thought you high life folk liked a good joke."

Sneering down at her, he looks about ready to take another swing so she quickly continues. "Settle down, I was only yankin' ya chain, no need to get your knickers in a twist. I got Crow's cash right here, see." Pulling out and languidly lifting the money, she watches mournfully as he snatches it out of her hand, taking the time to stand up and dust herself off while he counts the bills.

"This'll do, until tomorrow at least."

Halting in the middle of checking if he broke her nose, her head snapped up in shock. "Now hold up a minute, what in the bloody hell do ya mean, 'till tomorrow?' That ain't the deal we agreed on."

Eyes flickering up to her own briefly, he unceremoniously shoves the wad into the inside of his jacket. "No, it isn't, but neither was you taking an extra _month_ to pay off your debt. I expect double this tomorrow, consider it interest."

Blanching, Nao splutters for a second, searching his face for any hint of jest. She found none. "I can't get that much in a day, it's impossible and you know it. I got lucky with that score as is."

Smiling for the first time in all the time she's known him, he genuinely appears delighted at her plight and she starts to seriously regret every time she's ever annoyed him, just a little bit. "Then you better either pray for mercy or start running, little Sparrow. See you tomorrow."

At that he turns on his heel and starts walking away, leaving her wondering just how much trouble she's gotten herself into this time.

—

Admittedly it wasn't a very good idea to attempt to swipe some food from the market this close to closing, but Nao's never claimed to be very smart anyway.

Her stomach had twisted painfully - reminding her that she hasn't had a proper meal in days - and all logic flew out the window when she saw the last loaf of bread sitting at a stall unattended. If she'd taken a few extra seconds to survey her surroundings she'd have seen the stall owner talking to a customer nearby and _definitely_ would have noticed the way he'd kept glancing at it every few seconds. Indeed, hindsight is 20/20 and clearly so is the man's eyesight because as soon as she laid a hand on it he'd called out and started moving towards her. It wasn't one of her finest moments when - in a fit of desperation - she took the bread and booked it down the street, leading to her current predicament.

Dashing between people, Nao listened to the heavy, rushed footsteps behind her and the yells of the man telling her to stop- which is a silly thing to do, really. What's she going to do, say 'oh hey, sorry for trying to steal from you but can you kindly refrain from beating my face in?'

Yeah right, it'd be more likely for a bag of gold come down from the sky and have it land directly into her lap.

The footsteps are getting louder and she doesn't need to look to know that he's nearly caught up. To make matters worse the few people left milling about have caught on to what's happening and have started looking, which isn't good. If she's going to live long enough to be murdered by Crow then she's going to have to do something, _fast_.

Trying to gather her bearings, she looks for any identifying features that would tip her off to where she is relative to the market, but after feeling a hand graze her shirt she ducks down a side street that she_ thinks_ is the right one, not having enough time to check properly because the old geezer also turned- albeit a little slower than her.

Her legs have started burning and rocks are getting stuck in her feet but the end is in sight, now, so she musters up the last of her adrenaline to take the nearest left- straight into a dead end.

The man slows to a stop once he notices, chuckling between heavy breaths. "Nowhere to run now, huh, punk?"

Ignoring him, she shoved the end of the bread in her mouth, continuing full pelt. Attempting to gauge the height of the wall, once she was a few feet away she _jumped_.

Scrabbling to find purchase on the rough brickwork, her toes dig into the slots between the bricks and pushes off again, hands reaching for the ledge. By the time the stall owner realises what's happening it's too late, Nao is already pulling herself up and swinging a leg over the edge. Stopping for a brief wave goodbye, she let go and drops down to the other side of the wall, smirking to herself after hearing muffled curses.

Dusting off her hands, she turns to find her way back but freezes mid-turn, bread falling from her open mouth.

"That was pretty impressive, kid."

Standing in front of her, just a few meters away, is the same man who's ID is in her back pocket.

Bending down to pick up her hard-won prize - not breaking eye contact - her muscles are tense and ready to move at the slightest hint that he's about to move towards her. Straightening back up, she waits for him to continue- to make the first move. Nao knows this alley well, has used it many times, and subsequently knows that the only way in or out is the wall behind her or the exit behind _him_.

Neither of them move. He appears quite content to watch her, most likely having come to the same realisation she has, and she's busy desperately fighting the urge to run.

He's a largely built man, all bulk and hard muscle, which could mean that he's slow. Judging by the scars littering his arms and face that may very well be true, but something about the way he's watching her says he's more than capable of catching her if she tried to climb back over the wall, that he would be ready for it. Getting past him isn't a viable option either, not with how close together the walls are.

So Nao does what she does best- she bluffs.

Standing tall, shoulders back and chin up, she tries to calm her thundering heart and is rather impressed with herself when her voice comes out steady. "If you want ya money back, too bad. I already spent it, yeah? So fuck off."

He raises a brow, unimpressed.

She soldiers on, undeterred. "Mhmm, bought this food an' everything, so you can just turn back around and continue on your merry way. Maybe I won't mention ta anyone how you cornered a kid in an alley, if ya lucky."

Letting out a long, drawn out sigh, he turns his gaze to the sky and mutters something under his breath, looking for all the world like he's regretting every life choice that led him to this point in time. Peering back down at her, his expression softens a tad when he sees how on guard and nervous she is, like a rabbit ready to bolt.

"Sold the wallet, too, an' I reckon it's finders keepers for the watc-"

"I don't care about that."

Mouth snapping shut, Nao squints and eyes him warily, not trusting a single word. "What're you here for, then?"

"I was going to ask if you wanted to join me, but now I'm wondering if that's truly a wise decision."

Sniffing indignantly, she studies her nails with feigned indifference, keeping her tone light and conversational, as if talking about the weather. "Join you?"

"In my travels."

Seconds tick by, and when he shows no sign of continuing, she does. "I'm not sure travelling with some creepy pedo is such a good idea. I'll pass. Now if you're finished, I'll just-" Pointing behind him and subtly edging in that direction, she's half expecting for him to not bother replying, which is why it takes a second for his next words to sink in.

"You're free to stay here, of course. I'm sure that boy will be ecstatic to hear about your devotion to paying off your debt."

Body clamming up, her stomach drops and the blood drains from her face.

"The offer still stands, of course, but I'm leaving immediately. So be sure to let me know if you change your mind quickly."

Turning around, he begins walking away but she can't hear it over the buzzing in her ears, a million thoughts all clambering to the forefront of her mind.

How does he know about Magpie?  
What _else _does he know?

And more importantly, _what should she do_?

Looking around at the dirty, piss ridden alley and then down at the equally dirty bread loaf still in her hand, the decision is easy.

"Hey, wait up!"


	2. First Steps

"So, what's ya name, anyway?"

Once she'd caught up to him - he'd actually _waited, _which was unexpected - he'd said that he has to stop off at the inn to grab his things and began making his way in its general direction. Falling into step beside him, Nao kept glancing his way every few seconds, waiting for him to say something else. He either didn't notice her staring or didn't care because he stayed quiet and refused to so much as glance her way.

The silence was unnerving, the only sound being the click of his wooden sandals on the cobble street, and there weren't even any passersby since he seemed to be sticking to the back roads.

Nao had lasted a rather impressive two minutes before it became too unbearable and tried to strike up a conversation.

"Eizo."

The short, curt, to-the-point answers are quickly becoming irritating and the flat, monotone voice he says them in even more so.

"That's a dumb name." Peering over at him - at _Eizo -_ from the corner of her eye, she waits for any sort of reaction. Nothing. "Are ya gonna ask for _my_ name?"

"No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me regardless."

Pointedly ignoring him, Nao continues, pointing a thumb at herself in a large, sweeping gesture. "It's Nao, which is way better than _Eizo. _I mean, what kinda name is that? A pretty lame one, if ya ask me."

"It's a good thing I didn't, then." Dropping her arm to her side and scowling, she's about to retort when he stops suddenly, causing her to bump into his side and stumble. Annoyed, she opens her mouth to ask what in the bloody hell he's doing when he cuts her off. "We're here. Wait outside, I won't be long."

Blinking, Nao takes a step back and looks around. Sure enough, they're outside the small inn, and she wonders when exactly that happened. Last she checked they were still quite a ways away, having started practically on the other side of the village.

The inn is nothing glamorous, looking run down and worse for wear, but beggars can't be choosers and it's the only one in the village, meaning it's this or nothing.

That's not to say it gets many guests, just that the few there are can't complain if the floor creaks and the roof leaks. The majority of travellers that come this far into Lightning Country either only stop here briefly as a restocking point or avoid the village entirely, mainly because it's fairly out of the way of the larger, more wealthy trading areas.

Eyeing her warily as if to make sure she's going to stay put, Eizo turns and enters the building to their right without waiting for an answer.

With nothing else to do, Nao settles down by the door and waits.

When the door opens again she's startled out of the light doze she'd fallen into and rubs at her eye, looking blearily up at what had disturbed her.

The sight only gives her _momentary _pause, thank you very much.

Eizo looks so vastly different from before that it takes a minute for her to realise it's still him at all. Where before he was scruffy, if a tad frumpy, clad in basic, light materials, now he looks far more put together. His pants are both more form-fitting and sturdy; the fabric appearing to be thicker, and his shirt is similar, from what little of it she can see. What really put her off is the wire mesh underneath and a light _armoured vest_ on top_, _a thin, long jacket over it all.

Nao thinks she can even see the sheath of a blade peeking out from behind his back, hidden by the jacket, but isn't completely sure.

When he turns towards her it's made abundantly clear that he's pulled his hair back into a short ponytail, revealing a jagged scar from his ear to below his chin, and it takes all of her willpower to not visibly flinch.

She manages a far more reasonable wince, instead.

Unbothered, Eizo reaches down a hand, probably meaning to help her up, but she dismisses it and stubbornly gets up on her own.

"It'll be dark soon, but I at least want to get to the bottom of the mountain before we set up camp." Nodding absently, she startles back into full awareness, remembering something she had conveniently forgotten to mention.

"We gotta stop by an' grab a couple things I've got stashed, real quick."

Sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose, he mutters something inaudible under his breath before dropping his hand. "And where is this 'stash'?"

Grinning mischievously and stuffing her hands in her pockets, Nao looks up at him innocently.

He doesn't look like he's buying it one bit.

"S' not far, just on the edge a town, down that way." Pointing back the way they came, she expects him to complain or to ask why she hadn't mentioned it earlier, and waits for the inevitable reprimanding.

Instead of doing any of that, he simply turns around and starts walking.

—

Kiso is a rather small village, even by Lightning Country standards; albeit an old one. First founded during the Warring States era as an outpost of the now-abolished Mountain Country, its role was to alert the main village of enemy approachers. Nestled by a large cliff face at the midpoint of a mountain, it's in a prime position to spot people from miles away, allowing a messenger to be sent quickly.

Due to its passive yet important nature, the few people that lived here needed a quick evacuation procedure in the event of enemies attempting to sabotage the country's defence system; hence the creation of the Cave System.

The Cave System was a series of small, hidden, man-made caves along the cliff face meant to hide the habitants short-term, with a fresh a water source and a small storage of non-perishables in each one. Most of them have collapsed due to disuse and few people still know about them, but are still rather useful for hiding things you don't want anyone stealing- that is, if you know where to look.

She knows about the location of one or two but isn't naive enough to think she knows about all of them- or that she's the only one using them. Nao's acutely aware of the footprints that stop abruptly she sometimes finds on the other side of the cliff, but even after countless hours of searching she couldn't find the opening to _that_ particular one.

So when she and Eizo arrive at the cliff, situated at the back of the village, Nao takes the lead and heads left, running her hand along the rough surface. Once they arrive at the rubble of a small stone hut she counts twenty paces further and stops, kneeling down.

"Oi, turn 'round an' keep watch, would ya?"

Eizo, who had been silent up until that point, glanced at her curiously before nodding in affirmation, doing as she asked. "Make it quick."

Satisfied that he wouldn't look, Nao turned back to the rock and ran her fingers along the bottom, feeling around until she felt a sharp dip, invisible to the eye even as her fingers disappeared into the crevice. Curling her digits to touch the right side, she screws her eyes shut and tries to concentrate. She's never been very good at this part, probably because she doesn't _really _understand how to do it properly, only ever watching and receiving a rushed explanation when she had asked how it was done after seeing it for the first time.

Breathing deeply, Nao tries to visualise the blue energy, imagining pulling it forth into her hand. It takes a half dozen failed attempts before she feels the familiar hum, and yet a few more until she successfully pulses it into the seal she knows is at her fingertips. By the time the rock parts to reveal a small crawlspace just big enough for her to fit through, she's panting heavily and wiping sweat from her brow.

Turning to make sure Eizo still has his back to her - he does - she lays down flat, wriggling in head first until her arms are through the hole, then putting her hands on either side and pulling the rest of her torso and legs through, swiftly standing up. Fumbling along the wall, she quickly finds the light switch and turns it on, a hidden panel in the right side sliding away, showing a small bulb that flickers to life.

Squinting to adjust to the low light, she surveys the room to make sure nothing has changed since her last visit. The space is just large enough for her to stand without needing to duck, and she's able to reach her arms out either side of her with an inch to spare. It was likely much bigger at one point but the left side has long since collapsed, only leaving what she suspects was supposed to be the entryway intact.

In any case, it's more than enough for what she needs it for and, after making sure no more of the roof has fallen in, she bends down to once again feel along the back wall. This time it's not a crevice that she's looking for but a crack, and once she finds it she digs her fingers in and _pulls_.

After a few seconds of struggling, the rock gives way and peels away from the wall, dropping to the floor with a dull thud. Sticking her arm into the compartment, she pulls out a small rucksack and - after making sure everything is still inside it - replaces the rock, making sure it's securely back in its place before turning around and shoving the sack outside, quickly following suit.

Once back outside, she touches the seal and pulses the blue energy into it again - quicker, this time - to close the opening and stands up, dusting herself off and hoisting the strap of the bag over her neck and shoulder.

"Are you finished?"

Waltzing back over to where Eizo is standing, Nao flashes him a grin and salutes, replying in a flat, monotone voice. "Mission achieved, boss man."

The corner of his lip twitches upwards faintly - so quick she nearly misses it entirely - and looks away, coughing into his closed fist. Counting it as a win, her smile broadens and she lets her arm swing back down to her side, bounding after him with a spring in her step once he starts walking away.

Maybe this won't be so bad, after all.

—

She takes it all back, this is the _worst._

They've barely left the village and the scenery has already lost its charm. No matter how new, the sight of rocky outcroppings and the occasional shrub gets old fast, and after five minutes of excitedly relishing in the fact that she's _left the village_ she finds herself wondering if this is all she has to look forward to in the near future; walking, walking, and more walking.

"Do try to look at least somewhat alive."

"But Eizo, this is so _boring_." Nao whines, scowling when he looks down at her, eyebrows raised in amusement.

"What else did you expect?"

Kicking a rock - there's no shortage of _those, _Nao muses ruefully - she watches as it rolls down the steep incline, bouncing off of larger rocks and boulders before slowly coming to a stop under a tree. "I dunno! Figured we'd've made more progress than this by now. I mean the sun's already settin' and we're not even halfway to the bottom. How long's this gonna take?"

"We might have been making camp right now if we had made your detour before mine," he reminds her calmly. Upon noticing her trying - and failing - to stifle a yawn, he continues, voice ever so slightly softer. "Tell you what, if you can last until we make camp we'll have fish for dinner. How does that sound?"

Perking up, Nao stops in her tracks, looking up at him with stars in her eyes. "Really?"

Shrugging, he keeps walking. "I don't see why not."

Watching him for a second, her eyes narrow in determination, grin spreading from ear to ear. "Well, ya better keep up, then!" As Eizo looks behind him in confusion, she bolts past, sprinting as fast as her legs will allow. Breathing deeply through her nose, arms pumping at her sides, she watches as bushes whizz past, being careful to avoid any stray pebbles or roots. It'd be plain embarrassing if she lost her footing and landed face first, after all.

The thought of food keeps her going even as her legs begin to burn, breath coming out in rushed pants, chest heaving at the effort. Only once the ground levels out and sporadic tufts of grass begin springing out of the dirt does she slow down, skidding to a stop under a tree and putting her hands on her knees, breathing heavily.

"Are you okay?"

Startled, Nao tries to spin around but trips over how own feet and falls backwards, landing hard on her ass. Gaping up at the sight in front of her, she stutters, not believing what she's seeing.

There, just a few feet away, is Eizo. Standing nonchalantly with his arms loosely crossed, he appears no worse for wear, as if he hadn't moved at all.

"How did you _do_ that? I didn't even hear you comin'!" Scrabbling to her feet, Nao sways, head spinning, and is about to over fall again when Eizo reaches out a hand, grabbing her shoulder to steady her.

Brows pinching in concern, he surveys their surroundings, pointing to a clearing relatively close to their right. "We can stop over there. It's closer to the path than I'd usually like, but we're close enough to the village that it shouldn't matter much. You should rest."

Shrugging off his hand, she mumbles "'m fine," but doesn't protest as they make their way over and he stays by her side, within easy reach. All of a sudden a wave of tiredness washes over her, and all she can do is place one foot in front of the other, relying solely on Eizo for directions.

He leads them over to a tree on the edge of the clearing, gently nudging her to sit down. She does so with gusto, readily flopping down so that her back is leaning on the bark. "You promised fish."

"So I did. Will you be alright on your own?"

Waving him off in a dismissive manner, Nao waits until she hears him moving away to slump over, putting her head between her knees and rubbing her temples, willing the headache to dissipate. It's been a while since she's felt so awful after a run; it would be detrimental if she couldn't handle a short sprint away from trouble, after all.

The only reason she can think of that could have caused such a big reaction is opening the cave, earlier. Usually she goes to sleep after dropping something off for safekeeping, only ever visiting after dark in case someone notices her. It was a risk doing it today, even, and she only did so because Eizo was there to keep watch.

He may look brutish and dumb as a rock, but he hasn't done anything wrong yet. Though it's only a matter of time until he reveals what he wants her for and tells her to do something, she may as well try to enjoy herself until then. Hopefully she can ditch him at a town or something, try and strike it out on her own. It might be nice to travel, find a quiet place to stay awhile.

But that's in the future. Right now she hopes Eizo wasn't lying when he said he'll bring back food- she's starving.

It's scarcely ten minutes later when Eizo returns, and true to his word he has four small fish skewered onto long, thin sticks stripped of their bark and a small pile of firewood and dead, dry grass under his other arm.

"That was fast."

Glancing her way briefly, he dumps the wood on the floor and shoves the bottom end of the sticks into the ground to make sure they won't fall over before beginning to arrange the wood into a vaguely teepee-esq looking shape, leaving ample space in the middle.

Nao shuffles closer to get a better view of what he's doing, and Eizo gestures for her to sit across from him. Intrigued, she does so and watches as he takes the grass and bundles it up into a sort of nest shape, placing it to the side. Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a short, flat piece of wood and a long wooden rod, both of which look like they've been sanded down to be relatively smooth.

"Wha- how'd they fit in ya pocket? Thing looks like a mouse'd be claustrophobic in it."

"That's a secret," he replies distractedly, much to Nao's chagrin, but she doesn't press.

Grumbling, Nao doesn't notice as he produces a short, stout blade from behind his back, but does see him use it to slash a small v shape into the edge of the plank.

"Watch this," he says, putting the knife back into its sheath strapped to the small of his back. Picking up the rod, he places one end onto the v and clasps the other between his hands, starting to roll it between his palms. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed until the wooden plank begins to smoke, the friction causing a small, black piece of charcoal to break off.

Swiftly picking it up and putting it into the bundle of grass, he folds the nest between his hands to make sure it's directly in the middle, applying pressure to remove any air trapped inside. Taking a deep breath, he blows into hands, and it takes no time at all for a flame to sprout between his fingers. 

"Okay, that's pretty cool."

Lip doing that twitchy non-smile, Eizo nudges the kindling into the middle of the firewood, and she watches as the flame licked and slowly spread to the larger sticks. "That should get going quickly enough."

"Is it really okay to jus', let it go?" Nao asked nervously. She hasn't had much experience with it before but from what she's heard, fire can get wildly out of control _fast._ Even during the dead of winter, she was never the one to light it, always waiting for someone else to do it safely so she could crowd around theirs. She may be reckless, but she's not _stupid._

"Usually we'd have to prep a little more for a fire so that It doesn't leap and set the trees on fire, but there isn't enough grass in the perimeter for it to matter all that much. As long as we remain vigilant it should be fine."

Well, if he isn't worried then she won't be, either.

They spend a few minutes like that, watching the flames as they climbed higher and higher, listening to the crackles and pops of it. Nao's heard some folks say watching a fire is calming, and she can understand the sentiment in theory, but it's always had an undertone of danger to it that doesn't allow for her to ever get truly settled. She's too busy worrying that if she takes her eyes off of it for even a moment, something will go wrong.

Eizo shuffles, and she tears her gaze away from the fire long enough to watch him move the fish closer so that they are only just outside of the immediate flame. The smell of cooking meat and charring skin permeated the air soon after, and Nao's mouth began to water in anticipation. "When's it gonna be done?"

"Have patience." Pouting, Nao sends him a glare that looks more pitiful than intimidating. Breathing out through his nose in what could be perceived as a sigh, if you squint and tilt your head a bit, he relents. "When the eye turns completely white, that's when you flip it."

Turning back towards the fish with newfound purpose, she stares at the eye and waits.

And waits.

And wai-

"Is it ready now?"

"No, the edge has only just changed colour."

Shifting, she begins fiddling with the hem of her shirt. "Yeah, I knew that. I was jus' testin' ya, is all."

…

"What about now?"

Pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation, Eizo looks to the sky and mutters under his breath what sounds vaguely like a prayer.

Looking around, he starts talking in that flat tone she detests. "How about you walk over to-" he points over to a boulder on the other side of the clearing, "there and back four times."

Staring at him as if he'd started speaking in tongues, she asks incredulously, "why in seven hells would I do that?"

Letting his arm fall back down next to him, he raises a brow at her. "Aren't children supposed to be good and do what adults tell them to?"

Sending him a dirty look, she snarls, "you can take ya opinion an' shove it up your rear-end, ya old sack a dust. Aren't you old people supposed to be six foot under? How about you hurry up an' keel over an' _di_-"

"It's done."

Startling out of her rage-induced ranting, Nao is utterly confused. "What?" All he does is incline his head towards the fire and, following the movement, she sees that sometime during their talking he had flipped the fish, both sides now cooked to crispy perfection. "Oh. Well, you can stay in the realm of the livin' for a while longer, then."

Snatching up three of the four fish while maintaining eye-contact, as if to challenge him to try and argue, she takes a decisive bite out of one and pauses, chewing slowly. After swallowing, a smile slowly spreads over her face. "Heck, if ya keep feedin' me stuff like this, I may even come to like ya."

"I shall await the day I gain your approval with bated breath."

Already hoeing into the rest, she points one of the empty sticks towards him, speaking around the food already stuffed into her mouth. "Don't get cute, ya still a pain in the neck."

"Of course," Eizo replies mildly, taking a small bite of his own.

She misses the way his shoulders relax at seeing her eating, too engrossed in the act of savouring the taste to notice.


	3. Unexpected Attachment

Waking up slowly is not a luxury Nao has ever had the ability to indulge in.

Lowering your guard when you're at your most vulnerable is an outright stupid thing to do, so more often than not she finds herself waking up several times a night to even the slightest of noises; a rat scuttling, a bird cawing, a door shutting. Anything that her brain could possibly perceive as a threat sends her on high alert, and last night was no different.

Nao woke up no less than five separate times, each one due to the various wildlife making a wide array of sounds ranging from the soft rustling of leaves to deafening screeching.

She's glad whatever made that last one never revealed itself.

Every time she bolted upright and scanned the perimeter, muscles tense and ready to spring at a moments notice, and every time there was nothing wrong. The only living thing she could see was Eizo, sitting with his legs crossed, back facing her, which was inherently fishy in of itself. She wasn't quite sure what to make of that, yet, and shelved it for later. He may have not noticed her waking up, and most likely won't take kindly to her asking about it.

Even she has limits as to how far she'll push him, at least until she finds out exactly what it is that he wants.

By the time the sun begins to peek over the horizon, Nao has already been awake for several minutes. Lying on her side with her head resting on her bag, she has her eyes closed and is stubbornly refusing to open them, wishing futilely for a few more minutes of sleep. She can't remember the last time she's had a proper nights rest and wants desperately to relish it while she can, basking in the feel of cool wind and the peaceful atmosph-

"Time to get up, kid. We've got a lot of ground to cover today and there's something I want to do before we leave." As Eizo spoke she heard him stand up, shuffling over to stamp down the last of the fire's dying embers.

Rolling over to bury her face in the material of her makeshift pillow, Nao flings her arms over her head and mumbles in protest.

"I can't hear you. Shall I take that as agreement?"

"I said," Nao replies, lifting her head just enough to be intelligible, "stuff off."

A beat of silence passes before she hears him begin to move again. "You're free to go back to sleep, of course." The sound of footsteps became louder until she felt him stop next to her. "But you'll miss breakfast."

Bolting upright, Nao exclaims excitedly, "breakfast?" Then, realising what she's just done, continued in a more even tone, schooling her face into a careful look of restraint. "You shoulda jus' said so." Stretching her arms over her head, she cracks her knuckles and back in the same motion, looking around. Finding nothing even remotely edible in her immediate vicinity, she furrows her brows, turning to Eizo with an expression of utter betrayal. "Well, where is it?"

Moving to grab his jacket, which he had hung off of a tree branch the night before, Eizo gestures vaguely to the right. "You can eat on the way to the river."

Letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, Nao nods her head. Reaching her hand out to grasp the strap of her bag, she instead recoils when it comes into contact with something smooth and scaly. Shocked, she whirls around to stare at where her hand had been moments earlier.

Sitting there, no larger than her pointer finger, is a blue baby lizard, its own mismatched green-yellow eyes locked onto hers.

"Uhhhh, Eizo, there's a thing lookin' at me," she yells over her shoulder, not daring to break eye contact with the tiny reptile.

He replies without skipping a beat. "It most likely approached during the night due to the warmth of the fire. A gentle nudge should be more than enough to get it off."

Despite his words, the two continue their silent staring match, and as Nao's eyes began to feel dry and itchy the lizard moistened its own with a clear, see-through second eyelid.

Nao feels rather cheated.

Seeing the exchange take place, Eizo shakes his head and takes it upon himself to approach and carefully pick up the aforementioned lizard, walking to the edge of the clearing and placing it onto one of the many large rocks. "There. Now that that's settled, let's get a move on."

Looking back at the lizard one last time - which had turned to face her, creepily enough - she slings her bag's strap over her shoulder and stands up, trailing after Eizo. Once they were a sufficient distance away, he took out something from his coat pocket and lightly tossed it towards Nao. Catching it and flipping it over, she looks confusedly down at what now lay in her palm. "What's this?"

"Rations bar."

Receiving no further explanation and seeing Eizo already continuing, Nao shrugs and tears the wrapper open, shoving one end of the dense bar in her mouth. Biting off a sizeable chunk and chewing while walking, she's taken by surprise at how _dry_ it is. By the time she swallows it feels as if her entire mouth is devoid of moisture. Anticipating the outcome, Eizo unclips a water canteen from his belt and hands it to her wordlessly. Snatching it from his grasp immediately, Nao unscrewed the lid and took a large swig, choking it down. "What the hell's this thing made of?" She demands, after draining nearly half of the canteen.

"Oats, mostly."

"Well, it tastes like shit."

"It grows on you."

Glaring down at the remains of the Devil Bar in her hand, Nao glances at Eizo and covertly slips it into her pocket while draining the remaining water from the canteen. After screwing the lid back on she hands it back, watching as Eizo clips it back onto his belt. "How far away 's this river, anyhow?"

"Not far."

—

'Not far' ended up being a thirty minute walk.

Nao made sure to complain for at least a third of the way in a half-hearted attempt to garner a reaction from her stoic companion, but it went about as well as her previous ones. Meaning he stayed as silent as a statue and showed about as much emotion as a grain of sand in the middle of a war zone. A tad frustrating, but it's also immensely refreshing to be able to say whatever she wants without repercussions.

"So, what're we here for?" She asks once they arrive, looking at the slow moving river in front of them. The segment that they are looking at is in a sharp u shape, curling around another of the numerous boulders jutting out of the ground, this one being several feet taller than Eizo. Several of the same type of fish they ate yesterday are swimming in the shallow depths and brushing against the pebbles at the bottom, leading her to believe this is the same place he got them from. Turning her head to look at Eizo, she finds him already doing the same.

"When was the last time you washed?"

She nearly snaps at him, then, and most likely would have if it had been anyone else asking. Something about the way he said it, however, caught her off guard. Face devoid of any judgment, he sounds so _earnest_ in his questioning, as if he's merely curious, even though his voice hadn't changed from its flat tone. So she tentatively answers him, careful to keep her voice even and any defensiveness out of her words, but she doesn't doubt some seeped through anyway.

"Don't get many chances to get proper clean, you know. Water aint exactly easy ta come by at Kiso." It's a non-answer, really, but he accepts it readily enough. For that, she's grateful.

"That's why we're here. You can wash on that side," he points to the left side, "and I can wash your clothes on that side," he points to the right.

Not finding any glaring flaws in the plan, Nao takes off her shirt and bends down to undo the twine tying her pants to her ankles. Noting that Eizo is staring at the water and not her, she slips the rest of the rations bar out of her pocket and takes off the watch, placing them behind her, out of his line of sight. After taking off her pants and pointedly leaving his wallet in the back pocket, she hands them and her shirt over to Eizo, wondering if he's going to comment on her leaving her underwear on.

He doesn't, handing her a washcloth produced from his pocket (_how much can he fit in there?)_ without another word. His eyes never go below her face, and he soon heads over to the other side of the rock, ducking out of sight.

Satisfied that he won't return before she calls him, she removes her last article of clothing and places it on the riverbank before wading into the water. Despite how shallow it is, at its deepest the water still comes up to Nao's waist, which is a testament to just how _short_ she is, she supposes. Sitting down in the river, the water climbs up to her shoulders, and she briefly submerges her head to wet her hair.

Though the black strands only come down to her ears they held a rather impressive amount of dirt, and the water around her head soon turns a cloudy brown. Scratching at her scalp to dislodge the crusted dirt and grime, she's amazed at how easily it comes out. Hardly a minute later her head is clean and the stream takes the dirt away, water becoming clear once again.

Looking down at herself, she's glad Eizo didn't draw attention to how much of an utter _mess_ she is.

There's the usual sight - too prominent ribs and flaky, taut skin - as well as an array of bruises marring her abdomen, colours ranging from deep purples to yellows edging on green. God only knows what her face looks like. Magpie truly had gone above and beyond with his hits, and she'll be all too happy if she never has to see his face again.

Gleefully, she remembers she _won't. _

Taking the cloth, Nao starts out by attempting to clean herself gently, avoiding the worst of the damage. This quickly proves to be both neigh impossible and a waste of time, so she quickly forgoes comfort for efficiently and scrubs harshly, ignoring the stinging the numerous bruises and scrapes provide. The dirt on her hands and feet prove to be the most difficult, almost as if it's been ingrained into the skin itself. After a while (and a lot more scrubbing), however, the dark brown eventually gives way and shows the slightly lighter tan underneath.

Standing up and watching as water streams off her in thick rivulets, she then realises her mistake. "Oi, Eizo, how am I supposed ta get dry?" Nao yells, praying he didn't wander too far away and can still hear her. Evidently he can because only a few short seconds later a towel is thrown over the rock and lands directly next to her underwear.

She's not even going to bother wondering where he produced _that_ from.

Being careful not to slip on the slimy pebbles, Nao leaves the river and picks up the towel, drying herself off quickly. Dropping it to the floor after finishing, she stares at her underwear, contemplating what to do with them. The thought of putting them back on right after getting clean is not a particularly appealing option, so she picks them up and takes them over to the water. She's done far worse things than wear wet clothing.

Washing them off and drying them as much as she can with the already wet towel, Nao puts them back on and calls out to Eizo again. "Are ya done?"

"Am I allowed back over?"

Shrugging despite the fact he can't see her, she answers with a yes, mildly surprised that he'd asked for her permission at all. He'd most likely have come over anyway, even if she'd said no, so why would she bother saying anything else?

Hearing Eizo approaching, she rushes to meet him halfway and snatches her clothes from his hands as soon as he's close enough for her to do so, ignoring his reaction. (Amused, if his eyebrow-raise and lip-twitch combo is to be believed. Or gassy.)

"I'll go wash up myself, I shouldn't be long." Waving him off distractedly, Nao marvels at how _soft_ her clothes feel- and dry, to boot! Hopefully Eizo will divulge some of his secrets to her before she blows him off, these are the types of tricks that'd be useful during life on the road. She'd forgotten that her pants were a beige to begin with, and was the red of her shirt ever that vibrant? She can't remember.

Hurriedly putting her clothes, twine and all, while Eizo leaves to do god knows what, she swiftly places the leftover oats bar in the front pocket once again and fastens the watch to her wrist. The wallet is gone, but that had been her intention, anyway.

(Nao never looked at the photo. She has _some_ standards.)

Sitting on the dirt so soon after getting clean clothes - for the first time in _years_, no less - doesn't sound like a good idea, so Nao wanders over to the shorter rocky outcroppings to plop down on one, avoiding the sparse shrubbery. She has a newfound understanding of why the other girls avoided dirt like the plague, being clean feels _nice_ and she plans on maintaining it for as long as possible. Even if that means for an hour.

Cracked fingernails drumming against the rock, Nao tries whistling like she's seen Magpie do when he's in a good mood (rare as it is) but gives up rather quickly. Even when she succeeds in making some semblance of a tune, the sound is so high-pitched that it grates on her ears and she stops, wincing. It even causes the wildlife to laugh at her, which is an all-time low.

Wait.

Looking down at what had made the strange part-squeak-part-laugh-part-hissing noise, Nao nearly does a physical double take and rubs her eyes to make sure what she's seeing is real- but _doesn't_ because that would be silly.

Yet again, seeing the same small, blue lizard from earlier this morning sitting next to her is _ludicrous,_ but there it is. Defying all known logic with its very presence.

Nao would be tempted to say that it's not the same one from before, if only to preserve her sanity, but how many small, blue lizards with heterochromatic green-yellow eyes could there possibly be around here? Surely no more than one.

If she weren't already convinced, the way it's currently staring at her certainly would have.

Floundering for something to do or say, an idea pops into her head and she's desperate enough to do it without a second thought. "Say, d'ya like oats?"

Reaching a hand into her pocket, Nao fishes out the remaining half of the 'rations bar' and breaks off a small piece, holding it out as a peace offering. The lizard does nothing - not even taking the time to blink - and so she waits, her arm straining. Just as Nao's about to retract the offer, a long, thin tongue darts out of its mouth to grab the remaining half of the bar - forgoing the smaller piece entirely- and takes it into its open maw. It doesn't chew before swallowing.

"That," Nao says slowly, "was awesome."

The lizard gives a sluggish, unsynchronised blink.

"Do you wanna come with me? Is that why you followed us?"

Another, painfully slow, blink.

"Uh, wink ya left eye for yes, right eye for no."

It winks.

"Wait, was that your left or my right? Ya know what, jus', get on if ya wanna come." Reaching out her hand, as soon as it's within range the lizard darts on and skitters up Nao's arm, tiny claws digging into her skin, and settles on her shoulder under her shirt. And that's that. Nao has a lizard now.

Cool.

Not long after, Eizo returns looking fresher - clothes also dry, Nao notices - and they continue walking along the river. When she asks why they aren't going back to the path, Eizo says that the nearest town is next to the water, just further down.

If he notices the blue head that occasionally pops out of her collar to flick its tongue out at him, he doesn't mention it.


	4. A Pit Stop! Maybe

It takes two more days of travel for them to arrive.

The days pass much the same as the last. First are morning baths in the river, which go much faster now that Nao is pretty much clean all the time. It doesn't make much sense to her why Eizo insists on washing _every day,_ but she's not going to bring it up and risk him actually agreeing with her. She'd decided pretty early on that being clean rocks.

Afterwards Eizo tosses her a rations bar and they continue, walking in relative silence. Relative meaning that Nao talks non-stop and Eizo pretends to be deaf, which is rude, but she lets it slide because he doesn't bring up the fact she pretends to eat the rations bar and instead stashes it in her bag.

They take frequent, short breaks and she's thankful for it. Nao's never had to walk such long distances before, and a constant walk is a lot different from a short sprint.

At sunset they make camp and eat fish for dinner. Nao slips the lizard a couple of the smallest ones and it (he?) eats them bones and all, which is interesting to watch. He (because even if it's not a he, calling him 'it' sounds wrong) hasn't left Nao's shoulder since he first settled there. How Nao managed to pick up what must be the laziest lizard alive she has no idea, but it sounds like just her kind of luck.

She can't bring herself to mind it, though.

At least he doesn't mind when she wakes up several times in the night, simply flicking his tongue at her and going back to sleep.

Nao knows they're getting closer when the river broadens into something that would be more appropriate to call a small lake, the fish inhabiting it scaling up along with it. (Eizo tried to give her less fish on account of them being bigger- she didn't stand for it.)

They get there on the third morning, but Nao smells the village long before she sees it. It's as if the buildings themselves give off a foul odour, smelling so rancid that when Nao first catches whiff of it she instinctively scrunches her nose up in disgust and covers it with her shirt.

A fishing village. Of course.

The lake is_ far _larger now, to the point that the word lake feels severely inadequate. When she points it out to Eizo in pure wonder, he gives her a funny look and says that it's called the ocean, which makes her feel a bit silly. Nao knows that the ocean exists, obviously, but hadn't realised the sheer _scale_ of it. She can't even see land on the other side! It goes on forever and looks like it could swallow up the comparatively tiny boats sailing on it at any time, if it so desired.

She resolves to never set foot on one, if she can help it.

Despite only being a few days' travel apart, the buildings here couldn't look more different than the ones she's used to. Back in her birth village they were made primarily of brick and rock, some even carved into the mountain itself.

Here, the walls are made of wood and the roofs of dried grass- or that's what it appears to be. Eizo calls it 'thatch' when she asks, but doesn't elaborate and say what thatch is made _of_. Usually Nao would needle him for answers - 'too many questions' be damned - but doesn't want to look _too _stupid.

She can ask him tomorrow.

Entering was far too easy, in Nao's opinion. The border is non-existent and they waltzed in without anyone noticing or caring, locals not batting an eye at their abrupt appearance. Leaving Kiso wasn't exactly difficult, either, but at least they had a gate with someone that took down their names. It had felt official, even if it was ultimately meaningless, but there's nothing of the sort here. They just. Walk in.

Eizo moves with purpose, striding through the streets as if he's lived here his entire life and knows exactly where he's going, leaving Nao jogging in order to keep up. When he notices he slows down somewhat, but keeps the pace at a brisk speed-walk.

Despite this, Nao still makes sure to take in as much of the sights as she can. Everything is so similar-but-different that it throws her for a loop, buildings in the same design but made with different materials and clothes in the same materials but different designs. They pass the market street briefly and she sees numerous sea foods for sale she doesn't know the name of, none of the familiar chevon to be seen.

Eizo leads her into the centre of the village and comes to a stop in front of what must be the largest building here. More than double the usual size, it dwarfs those around it, leading Nao to believe that this is the town hall. That and the fact that various people are coming in and out of it near constantly.

"Wait outside, I won't be long."

Eizo's voice startles her out of her staring, and once her brain catches up and digests what he said she's not surprised at the order. Ordinarily she'd ignore it and follow him inside just to spite him, but she's still transfixed by the new sights and smells. Staying outside is by far the more appealing option so Nao doesn't mind listening to him, just this once.

Watching him go through the large double doors, after they swing closed she searches for a place to wait. Finding nothing nearby, Nao sits cross-legged on the ground a few feet from the entrance, where she won't be in the way but can still see when Eizo comes back out.

Sitting still is not one of Nao's strong suits, not by a long shot, but observing people and her surroundings _is._ As long as a part of her body is moving, a jiggling leg or fidgeting hand, she can do it for hours at a time. And that was back in Kiso, where the sights never changed and she'd memorised every square inch years prior. Now that she's somewhere new there's so much more to see, so much more information to file away and keep her mind busy.

Mothers wearing strange, flowing garments hold their children's hands and carry groceries home from the market. Kids play tag, weaving amongst the crowd to dodge the one in a red shirt that's 'it'. There's very few men walking around and those that are have some obvious injury or illness barring them from working, wether it's a broken arm or a severe case of the flu. One old man is missing his leg from the knee down, a wooden stump replacing it.

Nao's in the middle of listening in on him scolding one of the children playing tag that had bumped into him when someone steps in front of her, blocking out the light and casting a long shadow over her form.

"Are you okay?" Squinting due to the bright light of the sun behind the figure, Nao looks at the young woman, recognising her as one of the many she'd seen toting their children around. "Where's your kaa-san?" Finally registering what's happening, Nao opens her mouth to correct her but is interrupted before she can get a single word out. "Come on, we can find her together." The woman's voice is soft and soothing, with a hint of concern, and while she reaches down a hand for Nao to take she flashes a smile men would fight wars for.

Too bad Nao isn't a man.

"Piss off, lady. I ain't no charity case and I sure don't need no 'kaa-san', so do us both a favour an' go bother someone else, yeah?"

Taking her hand back as if it'd been burned, the woman has a fleeting look of shock before her eyes harden, smile turning into a sharp frown and tone to ice. "I beg your pardon, you need to learn some manners, young man. My, what are parents teaching their kids these days?"

Scoffing, Nao feels the lizard moving under her shirt, woken up by the ruckus. "Don't ya go actin' all high an' mighty, your kid's gettin' a right blasting over there. Why don't you go 'teach _him_ some manners'?" Pointing behind her, the woman turns to see that the old man has switched targets, this time yelling at the eight year old boy Nao had seen the woman with earlier.

Face flushing scarlet, she storms off to, presumedly, discipline him and Nao feels a slight pang of sympathy. That boy won't know what hit him.

"She was a right nasty piece a work, wasn't she?" Nao says down to the lizard once it pops its head out of her collar. It blinks in what she decides to take as agreement.

"Two wrongs don't make a right."

Hearing Eizo's voice to her left, Nao stands up and walks over to where he'd been watching. "She assumed I'm some kinda helpless idiot that needs their mommy, then called _me_ rude! 'S her own fault she bit off more than she could chew."

Peering down at her impassively, he asks her mildly, "how old are you again, kid?"

"I turn six this month!" Nao answers, crossing her arms and puffing her chest out proudly. Then deflates slightly and adds, as an afterthought, "I think." He raises a brow and she sends him a glare because, wow, she knows she's short for her age but she's not _that_ short, there's no need to act surprised.

Humming noncommittally, he changes the subject, holding up a folded piece of paper. "I got what I needed."

Curiosity piqued, Nao shoves her hands in her pockets and feigns disinterest, absently scratching her nose. "Yeah? An' what's that?"

"You'll see," he says cryptically, then begins making his way down one of the streets. Used to it by now, Nao only grumbles a little before following, not happy that he didn't give any answers but accepting that she'll get them later. She always does.

Eizo leads them away from the markets and shops and into the residential area. Since the village (she should really find out its name) is only marginally larger than Kiso, it doesn't take long to reach their destination. He comes to a stop outside one of the smaller houses on the outskirts of the village, on the opposite side to the ocean.

Rather than ask the obvious question, Nao shoots Eizo a Look_._ Infuriatingly, he ignores her in favour of walking up the stone path to the front door - not waiting for her to catch up - and knocking. When nothing happens, Nao crosses her arms and taps her foot impatiently. "Maybe no one's home."

Sighing, Eizo knocks again, waits a few seconds and then calls out. "Hello? I'm here about your fence."

Nothing.

"See, I told ya. Let's go before someone-"

Nao's words die in her throat as the door creaks open, revealing a teenage boy with fiery red hair on crutches, his face set in a deep scowl. "Pops asked for help with that almost a month ago." He couldn't sound more suspicious if he tried, in Nao's opinion, and if she's understanding the situation correctly then it's a pretty weird reaction to someone offering to help you. What's his problem?

Eizo seems unbothered. "We only arrived in Haoti today. Has someone already fixed it?"

The boy says nothing, eyeing them wearily. A few tense seconds pass before he starts hobbling back into the house, leaving the door open a crack. When it opens fully again there's an old man with thinning grey hair and a walking stick on the other side. "Ah, they've sent someone finally. Come on, it's out the back. Shut the door behind you."

Eizo steps inside and holds the door open for her, which may have been a nice gesture if she didn't have the sneaking suspicion that he just wants her to stay in front to keep an eye on her. It's not like she's going to wreck the place and steal all the good silverware! Though, she may be tempted to if that _damn kid_ doesn't stop glaring a them.

The old man moves painfully slow through the sparse room, but luckily the door to the back yard isn't far away. When they go out the sliding door into the garden Nao instantly see's the problem.

The majority of the plot has been used to house a large vegetable garden - which explains why the house is so small - but half of it looks absolutely trashed. While obvious that there's been at least some attempt to clear the debris away, dirt and plants have been blown out of their planters and still cover the stone walkways. One of the smaller ones has been upended entirely, dumping it's contents and looking completely unsalvageable.

That, however, would be a simple fix. No, what is the most damaged, and evidently what Eizo is here to help with, is the fence. Not only are pickets at odd angles, but an entire section has been ripped up and is strewn about the same way a child throws their toys around during a tempter tantrum.

How on Earth is he supposed to fix that?

"Have you ordered any new pickets?" Eizo, as usual, is unfazed.

"Only enough to replace the broken ones," the old man says. "I've paid for them but you'll have to pick them up from the carpenter."

Nodding as if that's what he expected, Eizo takes one last look around before turning to the man. "We'll get started right away."

Nao internally cringes because, hello, who said anything about _we?_

The old man squints at them for a second longer before hobbling back towards the house, grumbling under his breath while he opens the door and vanishes from sight.

Wracking her brains for when he said his name, so she doesn't have to keep calling him 'old man', she realises he never did. Okay, Nao may not be the epitome of etiquette but even she knows that you're supposed to introduce yourself before dumping all your problems onto someone and expecting them to deal with it. Is everyone in Haoti this bad?

"So, are you ready to get started?"

"Nope." Nao replies, without missing a beat. "I didn't sign up for this shit, this is all on you."

"That's fair," Eizo agrees easily, and Nao is instantly suspicious. "But you won't get any of the reward."

He's baiting her. She knows it, he knows it. It's glaringly obvious to anyone with half a brain cell and Nao isn't going to fall for it, no siree. She scams people, not the other way around, and-

"Reward?"

And she remembers how much Ryō was in his wallet.

"Of course."

"How much are we talkin' here?" If this is how he gets his money than that would make a lot of sense. Take up jobs no one else wants to do weeks after the initial job listing, when they're at their most desperate, and they'd be willing to pay through the nose just to have it finally done! It's a perfect business model, a flawless plan, and Nao is impressed.

"Hmm, I'd say you get an amount proportional to how much of the work you do."

Sizing him up, she tries to think of a point to negotiate with but doesn't have a leg to stand on. No one in their right mind would give more money for doing less work and Eizo may be a bit weird, but he's not stupid. Well, not _that_ stupid. "Fine, sounds fair enough."

"Good. I'll go get the pickets before the carpenter closes and I'll leave you to clear the paths."

Taking another sweeping look at the carnage, Nao asks, "how? Looks like a bomb went off in 'ere-" but cuts herself off when she looks back at him.

Because that sneaky bastard is already gone.

Exhaling through her nose, Nao resolves to be extra annoying to him when he gets back and starts searching for a broom.

May as well get this over and done with.

—

By the time Eizo gets back Nao has dumped all the ripped up plants into a pile and started sweeping the dirt off the paths, leaving the wooden posts for him to deal with. It may have been a few days but her ribs still hurt like hell, and lifting even remotely heavy things only makes it worse.

He looks like he understands.

She picks up the plants to put them in the compost bin while Eizo sorts the usable wood from the broken beyond repair ones and they both just sort of, work around each other. It's awkward at first, she nearly rams into him more times than she can count, but they soon fall into a steady rhythm and finish their respective tasks quickly.

What really peeves Nao off is that the old guy keeps coming out to 'examine their progress' but actually just criticises them. After the third comment about how she's 'holding the broom wrong' she's about ready to show him where he can stick it, but Eizo conveniently chooses that exact moment to call him over. Lucky bastard.

After finishing. Eizo grabs some tools and starts marking where the wood needs to go and Nao takes a short break, trying to nibble on one of the rations bars but ends up giving most of it to the lizard when he wakes up.

She should really think of a name for him, if he's going to stick around.

The actual fixing part turns out to be a lot easier than she thought it would be, but that's most likely due to Eizo doing all of the hard stuff. All Nao has to do is hold pickets upright for him and pass him stuff, though she's still dead tired at the end of it. After the final picket is secured in place she has to resist the urge to collapse on the spot. Eizo hardly worked up a sweat.

The old man - she still doesn't know his name and doesn't want to at this point - comes out to inspect their work one final time, says a few words to Eizo she doesn't catch and pats him on the back, going back inside.

The sun went down about an hour ago and Nao wants nothing more than to sleep for the next century, but she manages to drag herself after Eizo when they leave. He seems like he wants to say something to her but ultimately refrains, which is probably for the best.

They make camp close by the lake, further up, and Nao's asleep the moment she sits down and leans against a rock.

She wakes up later, feeling far more refreshed, to the smell familiar of fish and stretches. The lizard also stirs and pokes his head out, flicking his tongue out at the air. Nao has no idea why he does that but it's kind of cute, so she leaves it.

The fire Eizo made looks different to the ones he normally does. He's dug into the dirt, making a sort of bowl shape, and placed the wood inside it, a ring of stones and rocks surrounding it. Nao figures it must be because they're closer to the village or because there's significantly more shrubbery and trees around now that the landscape has flattened a bit.

He passes her a stick with a large cooked fish on it wordlessly and she accepts it gratefully, starved from the work they'd done earlier. When she's done he hands her his canteen and she drains it, not caring if he hasn't had anything to drink yet. He could have gotten some when he went to get the fish if he were desperate.

"So where's the money we got?" She asks, stifling a yawn. Eizo raises a brow, lip doing the weird, quick upturn thing that tells her she's not going to like his answer.

"What do you mean?"

Dropping her hand to her side, her eyes glint in the glow of the fire, voice dangerously calm. "The money we got for doin' the job today."

"I don't remember mentioning any money."

Her eye twitches. "The reward, dumbass! Or were ya _lyin'_ ta get me to help you?"

Eizo actually _smiles_ then, leaning back and picking up his own, now cooked, fish. "Ah, yes, the reward. You already have it."

"I already have it." Nao echos dully, face slack.

"Don't you feel it? The rewarding feeling of satisfaction at doing a good deed for someone? For free, no less. I'm very proud of you."

Nao stares, eyes wide and jaw slack.

"Oh god," she whispers, bringing a hand up to grip her hair, "I've been had. I got suckered into doin' charity work an' all I got for it is sore arms. Bravo, Eizo, bravo."

He takes a bite of his fish. "Don't be so dramatic. They were grateful for the help."

"_Grateful_? That's what you call it? That old guy was actin' like we were doin' a piss poor job an' the boy acted like we were comin' over to kick his dog and steal everythin' not nailed down! People like that don't deserve help, they don't even deserve what they've got."

His eyes snap to hers and she barely surpasses a flinch at his intense gaze, choosing instead to hold her ground and glare back defiantly.

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, Eizo eats the last of his fish and then stabs the stick back into the ground. The silence is deafening, the air becoming tenser the longer it drags on but Nao isn't going to be the one to back down first.

"Why do you think they needed our help?"

Caught off guard by the seemingly unrelated question, Nao reaches up to mindlessly pet the lizards head. "I dunno, guess a storm or somethin' wrecked their garden."

"That is what caused the damage, yes, but not why they needed help with it. Try again."

Frustrated, Nao is about to shoot back a biting remark but remembers the boy hobbling on crutches and stops. "The boy was hurt an' the old guy was, well, too old. Right?"

Inclining his head in a half nod, Eizo hums. "More or less. Maki's father died in a fishing accident last year, so he's been doing all of the harder work around the house. He fell off the roof while preparing it for the upcoming storm a couple months back, however, and broke his leg."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with anythin'?" Nao says slowly, wondering where he's going with this.

"That's why they were being rude. Maki was frustrated that he couldn't do it himself and his grandfather is still grieving the loss of his son. Now that it's just them and neither of them can work, they couldn't afford to pay anyone to fix the fence, but that meant the wild animals started eating their crops. They went from doing relatively okay financially to having no income and little to no food, living off of the charity of others in the village."

Nao sniffs. "Still no reason ta treat us like dirt. We were doin' them a favour."

"No," Eizo agrees, "it wasn't. But that doesn't mean we can't be the better person and show a bit of compassion."

Nao goes silent, staring into the flickering flames of the fire. She doesn't say anything for the rest of the night, only petting the lizard and murmuring quietly to him when he pops his head out.

She has a lot to think about.


	5. Not All Sunshine and Rainbows

Nao doesn't wake up until the next afternoon.

After several nights of little to no sleep and being on constant high alert, the crash was long overdue. Ordinarily she'd wake up at the crack of dawn but she fell asleep under a tree that's protected her from the harshest of the sunlight, meaning her body hadn't properly registered it as morning yet.

When Nao opens her eyes the first thing she notices is the absence of weight on her shoulder. Then, once her brain has had enough time to process what that means, she jolts upright, frantically patting down her person and searching her immediate vicinity for the lizard.

Did he leave? They're pretty far from where it found her she found it, maybe he wanted to go back to his habitat. That's a thing animals do, right? Stick to their natural environment, that makes sense, the smart thing probably hitched a ride and ditched her, which is _fine_-

_Crunch_

_Crunch_

Then the second realisation hits.

_Crunch_

_Crunch_

Instead of waking up using her bag as a pillow, she'd been using her arm.

_Crunch_

_Crunch_

Slowly turning around, she sees that her bag has been dragged a foot away from where her head had been moments prior, a small, wagging tail sticking out of the opening.

_Crun-_

"Oi, you git, what do ya think you're doin in there?"

Freezing at the sound of her voice, the tail slowly slips inside the bag. After the fabric shifts, a scaly head pops out, mismatched eyes peering up at her innocently. The ploy might have actually worked if there wasn't half a rations bar hanging out his mouth.

"I was savin' those!"

After a deliberately sluggish blink he begins crunching away again, albeit a little slower.

"I was so gonna eat 'em! Jus' not straight away. What if we have to go without food for a while, huh? What're we gonna eat then? You've doomed us to death by starvation, you have."

Blink. _Crunch._

Throwing up her hands in exasperation, Nao gives in. "Fine, fine! Eat the bloody bars for all I care. Just know that when the food runs out I'll be eating _you_ first."

He doesn't seem to mind the sentiment much if the continued chewing is anything to go by.

"Having trouble controlling your pet?"

Startling, the hand Nao has on the ground slips and she nearly falls backwards, catching herself at the last second. Twisting around and leaning her head back, she frowns up at Eizo, who had somehow snuck up behind her without her noticing. "He ain't no pet. He's jus' a nuisance I can't get rid of."

Tilting his head to the side slightly, his lip does the twitchy thing. "And that's why you were panicked when you woke up and couldn't find him, naturally."

Spluttering, Nao feels her face heat up. "That- I wasn't- _that's beside the point,_ that is!" His eyes glinting in mirth, she watches as Eizo moves to sit across from her, studying his face intently. "An' why do you do that, anyway?"

Dropping a large brown paper bag between them, he absently asks the obligatory follow-up question. "Do what?"

Carefully picking up the lizard once it comes out from the bag and moving it back to her shoulder, she gestures at his face with her other hand. "The weird lip twitch thing. Why don't ya jus' smile like, I don't know,_ everyone else on the planet?_"

Hands stilling in the middle of opening the bag, a single beat passes before Eizo smoothes out his features and continues. Reaching a hand into the bag, he tosses an apple into her lap and begins unpacking the rest of the food. "While you were sleeping I got us lunch."`

Perking up, Nao picks up the apple and takes a bite while looking curiously at the cardboard container that Eizo has placed in front of her. "What's this?"

"Food. We're leaving once we're done, so eat quickly." He replies, picking up his own container.

Finishing the apple in a few large bites, she gives the lizard the core to munch on and opens the lid, eyes widening at the contents. Inside are several small rice balls, topped with various types of fish, along with a select variety of steamed vegetables.

Face lighting up, Nao's about to dig in when a thought hits her. Squinting at him suspiciously, her voice is low, tone bordering on accusatory. "If ya didn't get paid yesterday, how did you afford this?"

"I did a few deliveries in exchange for the leftovers from the lunch rush," he says between mouthfuls. "Have some faith."

Nao scoffs. "Faith, right. 'Scuse me if you lyin' yesterday didn't exactly fill me with confidence."

"I didn't lie. Now eat up, I want to have made at least a little progress before we make camp again."

She doesn't need to be told twice.

Nao eats the food so quickly she practically _inhales_ it, finishing even faster than Eizo despite his head start. Not a crumb is left behind and for once the lizard doesn't pester her for scraps, already fast asleep and curled up at his usual spot on her shoulder.

When she checks her bag before they leave - to make sure the lizard didn't touch anything else he wasn't supposed to - she finds more than half the ration bars gone, which gives her pause. Granted, they're not very big, but that's still far more than he should be able to eat at once and she can't help but wonder where it all _went_.

Remembering the containers, Nao asks where Eizo put them and he replies saying that he 'stored them for use as tinder.'

She resolves to find out where he stores everything one day, because 'his pocket' is no longer a viable excuse. Unless his pockets are six feet deep there's some seriously fishy shit going on.

_Fishy_. Ha.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, they once again set off for… wait.

"Where are we goin'?" Nao asks after only a few minutes of walking. Instead of going back through Haoti they're going straight past it, veering further left from their previous course.

Humming to show that he heard her, Eizo thinks it over. "We have to go through the Land of Frost first, but after that we can go wherever you want."

She stares.

A small bubble of laughter escapes her, and before she knows it she's outright _howling_ with laughter, snorts and all. Frame shaking from the sheer force of it, Nao stops walking to rest her hands on her knees, trying desperately to contain the laughter and catch her breath. Once it begins to subside, she glances at his face and bursts out laughing again.

Eizo watches on, waiting patiently.

"That," she says between chuckles, "was the funniest thing I've heard in a long time." Wiping a tear from her eye, Nao looks up to Eizo, a wide, toothy grin adorning her face. "I didn't know ya had a sense o' humour."

"I don't." He replies, completely stone faced, without so much as an eyebrow raised.

Smile becoming more fixed, she narrows her eyes, chuckles dying in her throat. "But ya not bein' serious, right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Dumbfounded, Nao doesn't know what to say.

"I've been traveling for over fifteen years now, there are very few places I haven't been. I don't mind revisiting a few places."

Well, she supposes that makes sense but- "Fifteen years?"

She hadn't meant to say it in such a disbelieving tone, but it's such a _long time._

After he gives a short nod, she tries not to openly gape. If he's been alone all that time it's no wonder he's like, well, _this._ She'd only been completely on her own at Kiso for six months and she was already going nuts, she can only imagine what fifteen _years_ would do to a person.

She wouldn't have survived.

"So, is there anywhere you want to go?" Still surprised from the revelation, Nao's about to shake her head on reflex before she lets the question really sink in.

Opening the flap of her bag, she shoves her hand inside and scarcely has to root around for a second before her hand clasps around what she's looking for. Pulling out a small book, she immediately starts flipping through the pages. Though dirty and torn in places, it's still her oldest possession and she has gone through it more times than she can count. Finding what she's looking for quickly, Nao holds it up for Eizo to see.

The picture is in black and white and the ink has rubbed off in spots, but it still clearly depicts a forest. The swirling lines take up both pages, showing various stylised animals like deer, birds and foxes hiding amongst the bushes and trees. On the right side there's a boy with one arm and his eye closed sitting against a tree, a large dog laying its head in his lap.

It's her favourite part of the story and Nao has spent many cold nights staring at it, imaging what it would be like to be the boy in the picture. To be so at peace.

Scanning the picture, Eizo says, "there are many places like that, but my personal favourite forests are in the Land of Fire. We can go there if you like."

Turning the book around again, Nao runs a thumb over the dog, looking at the boy's face. "How far away's it?"

"Less than a few weeks, at our current pace."

With that settled and with newfound purpose, Nao slips the book back in her bag and looks around, bouncing on the balls of her feet excitedly. "So, which way do we go?"

Reaching behind him, Eizo takes a rolled up piece of paper out from his waistband and hands It over to her wordlessly. Peering at him confusedly, she unfurls the scroll and stares down at its contents. "What's this?" The paper is divided into rough, uneven segments, the largest taking up a sixth of the page and the smallest the size of her thumb. Inside each one is some writing and dots with more writing next to them.

"A map. We're here," Eizo points to one of the larger segments on the right side, " and we want to go here." He finishes, pointing to another large area in the middle of the page.

"Okay," Nao says, drawing out each syllable, "but how do we do that?"

Despite the complete lack of facial expressions she can tell Eizo is happy about her showing an interest in what he's, presumedly, about to show her. Hurriedly putting his hand inside his coat, he takes out a small object that looks kind of like the watch on her wrist only without the strap. As he holds it out to her she can see that it is not actually anything like a watch, the needle inside moving side to side lazily before slowly coming to a stop and pointing behind her.

"This is a compass, the red half of the needle points north and without it a map is close to useless. The map I have is an extremely simplified one, it doesn't even have any contour lines and only shows the ninja villages, but it's fine for what we need it for."

She looks bewilderedly at him and he seems to realise the information overload, waving his hand dismissively. "I can give you a more detailed explanation about it later, for now all you need to know is that we want to go roughly south-west."

"That," Nao says after a long pause, "sounds like a fuckin' stupid idea. What if there's no villages that way?" She may not now the first thing about travel but that sounds like common sense, right? Go from town to town on your way somewhere and stock up on supplies along the way when you run low. Not that Eizo has used any 'supplies' in the traditional sense - the only thing she can think of that fits that description is the ration bars - but surely he'd have to stock up sometime.

Right?

Seeing him hold out a hand for the map, Nao rolls it up and passes it back over.

Taking it from her, he sticks it in his waistband again and nods, looking to the sky as if in thought. "If you're really so eager to help out the small town folk, I'm sure there'll be people that need help along the way. A roof that needs fixing, gardens that need weeding, maybe even some litter that needs picking u-"

"Okay!" Nao exclaims loudly, waving her arms to get his attention, trying to derail _that_ particular track of thought as quickly as possible. "Okay, I get it. Which way's south-east?"

"South-west."

"That's what I said." He accepts that easily and, damn it, evenHiroshi would've been getting frustrated with her by now!

"On the side of the compass there should be a sort of dial you can move, do you see it?

Dial? Lifting her hand, Nao inspects the side and yep, there's a sort of sideways gear she can turn. Doing so, the writing inside the compass moves and- Oh.

She's starting to get an idea of where this is headed and she doesn't like it one bit.

The words on the compass aren't anything she recalls seeing back at Kiso- not that it would have helped her any even if it was. Learning to read wasn't exactly at the top of her priority list. Hell, it wasn't on the list at all. Anything that wasn't directly related to her next meal hadn't fallen to the wayside, it was ignored altogether, forgone in favour of learning the most efficient way to pickpocket someone or memorising all of the possible escape routes.

Now - staring down at the writing that she knows means something but looks more like a two year old tried to draw a goat - there's a lump forming in her throat as she waits for the inevitable. The instructions, questions about why she doing said instructions, then the realisation and mockery.

Or worse, pity.

He hasn't even said anything yet and she's already begun to hyperventilate, eyes becoming unfocused and palms sweating. Nao wills her rapidly beating heart to calm, trying to slow her breathing but it's all in vain- there's something compressing her chest, something _squeezing_ so hard it feels like she's going to throw up and no matter what she does she can't ground herself.

A hand appears in her line of sight and she flinches - _grasping hands, cries for help ignored _\- but all it does is point at her hand. No, not at her hand, at one of the characters on the compass _in _her hand. Someone's saying something but the tone is so soft she can hardly make out the words over the blood rushing in her ears, only hearing bits and pieces.

"-r_eath, it'- ine. Turn -so -at the top."_

The hand retracts and she stares at what it had pointed to, eyes fixed on the black letters so that she doesn't forget which one she's supposed to be looking at. The person - _Eizo, its Eizo you know it's him -_ had said to move it so it's at the top, so with shaking hands she turns the dial until it is.

When no more instructions come she starts to panic that she's done it wrong, that she'd messed up regardless of how careful she'd been and she wants to apologise but the lump is still in her throat and no amount of swallowing will make it leave.

" _-forgot -ack at -camp. -back in -don't move -ay?"_

They - _Eizo remember, it's Eizo - _begin to move away and she focuses on the crunch of rocks and dirt under his heel, strains her ears to listen for it even once he's well out of hearing range.

She's alone now but the _what if's _the voice in her head keeps whispering keeps her on high alert, eyes darting around the perimeter so fast all she can see is motion blur. The compass is still in her hand and Nao clutches it like a lifeline, knuckles white and metal digging into her skin hard enough to cause a faint sting.

Then there's an even sharper sting that makes her jolt so hard the compass drops to the floor, hand flying up to touch her shoulder but instead of skin her fingers come into contact with _scales._

The lizard had bit her.

As if that had flipped a switch, the whispers vanish and her chest expands in a large, rattling breath that almost turns into a sob. When she speaks her voice is wobbly and lacks any of the heat she tried to put into it, but she doesn't stutter so she counts it as a win.

"You git. If you were hungry ya coulda jus' said so."

As usual the lizard doesn't respond in any conventional way - she still doesn't even know if it can understand her - but it does flick its tongue and skitter over to her other shoulder to give it a slight nip as well.

For the second time that day she bursts into a fit of laughter, though this one ends far more quickly when her head begins to pound. Reaching up, Nao pats the lizard's head and gives it a small smile, scooping down to pickup the compass and brushes the dirt off it.

"Sorry about that, I had to go back to get the water canteen."

Spinning on her heel, Nao flashes Eizo a wide grin that doesn't quite reach her eyes.

" 'Bout time, thought I'd have to leave without ya. What would you have done then, huh? You'd be missin' your compass an' be stranded in the middle a nowhere."

"I didn't finish telling you how to using it yet."

His monotone voice settles the last of her nerves and the familiar one sided banter eases the tightness in her chest, grin becoming a touch more genuine. "Yeah? Well maybe I figured it out on my own."

Quirking a brow as if to say_ 'really?'_, Eizo shakes his head. "Well, just in case you didn't let me explain it again."

And so Eizo gives the most bare-bones explanation of how to navigate using a compass ever and Nao listens with rapt attention, soaking up every word. Turns out now that south-west is at the top all she has to do is turn around until the red part of the needle is inside the red arrow and make sure it stays there as they walk, which sounds more difficult than it actually is.

Really all they have to do is walk in a straight line, which is easy now that the landscape is mostly flat and the rocks have significantly shrunk in size. The greenery has slowly started getting larger and denser, but is still spread out enough that sticking to pre-made paths isn't a necessity.

Eizo doesn't mention her reaction earlier so she doesn't either, happy to shove it to the back of her mind with everything else and never bring it up again.

They walk in silence for a while but it grates on her nerves, so Nao fills the air with mindless chatter for the rest of it. She only ever receives short answers from Eizo if she asks a question but she powers on anyway, talking about anything from the changing landscape to dramatic retellings of her best escapades at Kiso. Anything to fill the empty silence and stop the whispers in her head.

Nao only stops when they stop to make camp for the night. As Eizo makes the fire she makes sure to pay more attention than she usually does, hoping to learn how to make her own soon.

The whole goal from this is to become self sufficient enough to strike out on her own, but she'd forgotten that over the last few days. She'd grown complacent, content to let Eizo do everything for her and she's determined to break that habit.

Nao tends to the fire while Eizo goes out to get food and is mildly disappointed when he comes back without any fish. What he does have, however, is a rabbit and some leafy greens and roots, which is almost as good. Almost.

Even though they did less exercise overall than the previous days, Nao is utterly exhausted and can barely keep her eyes open while eating. When it finally comes time to sleep she does so with gusto, flopping to the ground in a boneless heap - making sure not to squash the lizard - and promptly closing her eyes, slipping away into unconsciousness.


	6. Never too Early to Learn

"Come on, you're so goddamn slow!" Nao yells behind her, charging ahead.

It's been several days since the _incident_ and that morning Eizo had said that, at their current pace, they'd reach the Land of Lightning's border by nightfall.

Nao, ever the overachiever, is determined to reach it by midday.

Eizo, ever the pain in the ass, is determined to drag his feet and make them reach it by the end of the _week_.

"You have quite the broad vocabulary for a child your age." Eizo - infuriatingly - remains unruffled and unbothered, strolling past trees and weaving between shrubbery without a care in the world.

Now that they've almost reached the Land of Frost the horizon is completely dead flat. The shrubs have been growing larger and closer together, and trees more common. It's not yet a forest, far from it, but the land is less packed down and the greenery actually has leaves instead of being a collection of dead sticks stuck together by sheer will alone.

The air has a certain sharpness to it now, too. A chill that threatens to become all-consuming if you dare ignore it.

Eizo gave Nao his jacket the other night and now it drags along the floor behind her as they walk, sleeves flopping over her hands as she gestures and moves. She'd tried to roll them up but they're simply so large that nothing short of tying them there would make them stay, and her only twine is keeping her pant legs at her ankles. So, alas, they hang.

At least it's fun to sway her arms from side to side and watch the cloth swing.

"Yeah, well maybe I wouldn't have ta use it if you'd hurry up!" Nao sniffs derisively, sticking her nose in the air and looking about as dignified as a six year old practically swimming in jacket possibly can.

"I'm not saying it's a bad thing, only that I wonder where you learned it."

He's fishing for information again, it's clear as day. He hasn't tried for a good while and Nao had hoped he wouldn't but was still expecting it to happen sooner or later, anyway. It's not like she's tried to be indirect with her prying, either.

Although, now that she's thinking about it, perhaps he truely sees her as nothing but an idiotic child that doesn't know the first thing about privacy or the power of information. If that's correct then it's no wonder he's not even attempting to be subtle; she's seen the other kids around the village, the ones that still live with their families. Has seen the way they cling to their mother's hand and look at everything with wide, innocent eyes, not yet disillusioned to the hardships of the world.

Naive, the lot of them, and she loathes to be compared to them, even if it's ultimately to her benefit.

"And I'm wonderin' where ya learned how to make your face do that."

If Eizo could see the mischievous grin Nao's sporting he might have ignored the statement, might have known better than to play right into her hands and put the ball in her court- but he can't, because she's still walking ahead of him and isn't about turn around to give it away.

"Do what?"

Spinning on her heel to begin walking backwards, she twists her face into a mocking look of concern, spreading her arms out dramatically towards him. "Why, do that thing where ya look like you're both constipated an' got diarrhoea at the same time! You really should take better care of yourself, you know."

Upon seeing his deadpan look she cackles - grin returning with far more teeth - and turns around to look where she's going once more, narrowly avoiding walking into another shrub.

Roused by all the jostling and noise, the lizard stretches, digging his claws into her skin, and skitters up the back of her head to settle atop her hair. He's been doing that a lot since it started getting colder, taking to basking in the sun during the day and sticking as close to the fire as he can manage while staying attached to her at night.

After Nao noticed she'd started sleeping closer to the fire, but she still worries about what's going to happen when they reach the Land of Frost. She may not know a whole lot about lizards, but it's obvious that they need heat to survive and she doubts the country's name is merely a coincidence.

After a few more jabs and jokes at his expense, Eizo picks up his feet and matches Nao's pace. He makes it look like a hassle but she's not fooled for a second, knowing that he could leave her in the dust if he really wanted. No way does someone travel for as long as he has and _not_ be able to out-pace a kid with ease.

(That and the fact she's started to suspect he's not all he appears to be, but that's neither here nor there.)

They do end up reaching the border a little before sunset - which Nao counts as a win - but Eizo insists on making camp shortly after. She protests, saying they can keep going for a while longer, but he takes one look at the way she's shivering and puts his foot down, muttering something under his breath about buying more appropriate clothes at the next town.

She debates snapping that she's not open to accepting charity - not wanting to add yet another item to the growing list of things he can lord over her head when he inevitably asks for her to repay her debt - but. Well.

It's a little late for that, isn't it?

If she's going down, she may as well be comfortable during the fall.

* * *

_Back against the wall, knees to her chest, arms wrapped around herself. She concentrates on the little things. The burn as her hollowed stomach threatens to devour itself, the way the hairs on her arms are raised in a feeble attempt to ward off the cold, how her teeth chatter so hard it feels like they're going to shatter. _

_Hiroshi had said he'd be back soon, so all she can do is believe him and wait. He's never lied to her before and there's no reason why he would start now, no matter how much the voice in her head tells her otherwise. _

_He wouldn't abandon her._

_-x-_

_Feet pounding against the rocky ground, breath coming out in harsh pants, arms pumping by her sides. She concentrates on the little things. The sting as rocks get stuck in her bare feet, the burning in her chest as her lungs demand more oxygen, the feel of blood running down her face from the gash on her forehead._

_She's been running for what feels like hours but when she looks behind her she hasn't moved so much as a single step, causing her to let out a pitiful, high pitched whine. _

_They're advancing on her and she can't do anything, can't lift so much as a finger and is powerless to help herself. _

_The shadows are twisting up her body, now, holding her in place and __**squeezing**__ so hard she's scared her bones will break under the pressure. _

_Something tells her that would be a mercy compared to what they're about to do._

_-x-_

_Minutes stretch into hours and the chill gets worse, the sun having set sometime between her blinks. Still, she's had to wait far longer before so she pushes all doubts to the back of her mind, thinking instead about what he'll come back with this time. _

_Surely something good if it's taken him this long._

_-x-_

_The pounding of her heart, the all-encompassing panic rising in her chest, the burn of tears clouding her vision. The little things overwhelm her. A bark of malicious laughter, the crunch of boots getting nearer, the reek of alcohol clinging to those behind her._

_Nao mentally begs for mercy, prays to whatever higher power there is that she'll devote her whole goddamn life to serving them if that's what it takes to just __**get away.**_

_That was her final mistake. The gods have never been merciful to her before, and they're not about to start now. _

_They're only a few feet away, now, and she's consumed by the sense of panic bubbling up her chest in her head in her __**bones **__and she wants to move, wants desperately to run and hide and never look back, but she can't. She can't because the shadows are holding her there, forcing her to conform to what's already happened like an actor in a scripted play; one she cannot veer from no matter how hard she tries. _

_They're directly behind her and she tries to scream but her impossibly tight vocal cords turn it into a strangled sob, making them laugh even more at her obvious plight. She strains against the shadows in a futile attempt to __**move**__ and with a burst of adrenaline she surges forward-_

_But it's too late._

* * *

Usually Nao surveys her surroundings the moment she wakes up and not a second later. It's probably why she's survived this long, at least in part, and is at the very least a good habit to have; one she adheres to religiously.

This time, however, she allows herself to keep her eyes closed, if only for a few blissful seconds. For the first time she can remember she allows herself some time to just breathe, not caring about anything else. The world could be collapsing around her, but as long as she lays here with her eyes closed none of it can touch her; like a child hiding under a blanket to make the monsters go away.

Nao listens to the crackling of the fire and tries to ignore the bone-deep exhaustion that's slowly been accumulating without her noticing. It's been the same dreams every night for nearly a week and her sleep quality has dropped sharply because of it, only getting a few hours of undisturbed sleep a night.

Her eyelids are heavy and limbs feel like lead, but her mind is going a mile a minute and there's no hope of going back got sleep, so she slowly pries them open and stares at the sky. The moon is high enough that it can't be long past midnight, not that she'd expected anything else.

Sometimes sleeping through the night is a luxury she doesn't have, and that's just how it's always been.

The lizard is curled up on her chest under her shirt, and she contemplates her options. Either get up to find something to do and disturb the lizard, or stay put and wait for dawn. The decision is easy.

Shifting slightly to get more comfortable, Nao settles in for a long night of waiting. Staying still for a prolonged period of time is akin to torture, but the lizard deserves a good night's rest. Just because _she's_ awake at an ungodly hour, that doesn't mean she has any right to wake him out of her own selfishness.

So she looks up at the stars and tries to occupy her mind by remembering the constellations. On nights when she couldn't sleep, Hir- her brother would point out the few he knew. Her memory is awful, but she can vaguely remember a couple after a little while of thinking; namely Gemini the twins, Leo the lion, and Orion the hunter. There were stories attached to them too, but she suspects he had largely made them up on the spot or had tried to piece together what little he could remember with blatant bullshit. That's only speculation, though, and she'll never know if she's correct or not.

It's peaceful out here, laying under the stars. There's a pleasant breeze, not strong enough to cause any issues with the fire but still enough to cause a faint rustling of the leaves nearby. Nao stays there - listening to the ambient noises and pointedly ignoring the itch to move - for a good half hour before she realises the scraping noise _isn't_ being made by a wild animal.

Slowly reaching a hand up so she doesn't make any noise, Nao mentally apologises and adjusts the lizard's position, moving it to her shoulder as she sits up. Luckily it doesn't kick up a fuss, simply looking at her for a moment and swiftly falling back asleep after shifting to get more comfortable.

Scanning the area, Nao breathes a sigh of relief when all she finds is Eizo sitting against a tree on the other side of the fire. Still, now that she's up she may as well go over and see what he's doing. Worst case scenario it's something mundane and boring and she goes back to staring at the sky.

As Nao approaches Eizo doesn't so much as twitch to acknowledge her presence, perfectly content to carry on with what he's doing. She might have been offended if she weren't so curious about it herself. Lump of wood in one hand and a small knife in the other, he's scraping away at the wood, evidently the cause of the noise.

Seeing that he's not going to be the one to speak first, Nao clears her throat and crouches down. "Whatcha doin' over here?" She says in a hushed tone.

"Carving." He replies, equally quiet.

The urge to roll her eyes is too strong to ignore, so she doesn't even try. "Duh, but _what_ are you carving?"

He doesn't pause, continuing to turn the wood in his hands, scrape off a bit, and turn it again. "You'll see when it's finished."

Huffing in annoyance, Nao sits down - gently, as to not wake the lizard - and squints at him. "What're you doin' up so late, anyway? It's gone midnight."

"I could say the same to you." Groaning, Nao puts her head in her hands, and Eizo pauses his work to glance at her. "Is there something you wanted?"

Perking up, Nao peeks through her fingers at Eizo. "Yeah, yeah there is, actually. Where do you keep all this stuff?" She asks, letting her hands fall way from her face.

"What do you mean?"

Gesturing bewilderedly at the wood in his hand and at his clothes, she flounders. "You know, all this stuff you've got. It can't all fit in your pocket, surely."

"No, it doesn't."

Knowing by now that he isn't going to elaborate, she doesn't even bother waiting. "So where do ya put it all?"

Eizo finally sets what he's working on down into his lap, and lets out a deep sigh. Looking at her as if to assess whether she genuinely wants to know or is just asking to be a pest, he seems to figure out that she's being genuine rather quickly. "Storage seals."

Sometimes getting answers out of him is like pulling teeth, and Nao swears he does it on purpose. "Can I see one?"

He hesitates for a moment before his shoulders sag and he gives in, reaching into a pouch on his belt to take out a small, rolled up piece of parchment. Laying it on the ground, he unfurls it to reveal- well. Nao doesn't quite know what it is.

Leaning forward to get a closer look, she can make out writing laid out in a circle with text moving outwards in straight lines. What makes it really strange, though, is the lettering itself. Instead of hard edges and boxy shapes - like she's used to seeing around Kiso and on the compass - the letters are soft and flowing, more like an illiterate artist's rendition of written language than any _real_ alphabet.

"How does it work?" Nao asks, and if she sounds a bit awed then can anyone really blame her? This isn't something you see every day.

Reaching a hand down, Eizo places it over the writing - the _storage scroll -_ and when he takes it away again there's a small puff of smoke, revealing a rations bar placed neatly in the middle of the circle.

"Wha- that's so cool! How did you do that? Where did you even get this?" Nao asks, so excited that she's whisper shouting, barely remembering to be mindful of the sleeping lizard.

"Ordinarily they would be too expensive for civilians, but I make them myself."

Gazing at him in wonder, Nao is so transfixed at the prospect of being able to _make_ one of these that it takes her a minute for his words to sink in. If townsfolk aren't able to use them, then that only leaves shinobi. The very thought of having something _shinobi_ use in front of her is a lot to wrap her head around- these could be used to store anything!

(… They could be used to store weapons. The niggling voice in her head questions how _he_ knows how to make them, but she pushes it aside.)

Disregarding that, this could be another puzzle piece slotting into place. If these are as expensive as Eizo says they are - and she doesn't doubt him - then even selling them for cheap at a village would net a hefty sum. This could be how Eizo makes his money.

"Can you teach me to make them?" The question comes out a lot softer than she intended, bordering on timid. Which is silly, because the worst thing he can do is say no.

But that _would_ be the worst thing, wouldn't it? Because this could be _it_. If she can learn to make even the simplest of scrolls and sell them on her travels, it could be enough for a warm meal every night. She could sleep at inns with a soft bed and a bathhouse, could buy her own clothes and afford to actually _buy_ the bread rather than steal it.

She could strike it out on her own and ditch Eizo for good, go wherever she pleased. Because that's the goal here, the whole reason she's stuck with him this long. Learn as much as she can from him and leave before he can ask for anything In return. It's the perfect con. A flawless plan.

He stares at her again, this time for longer and with more intensity- testing her resolve. She doesn't budge, doesn't waver. A fiery determination burns in her heart and it refuses to be extinguished.

"It will be hard." He warns, looking more serious than she's ever seen him.

"All worthwhile things are."

"And boring. Terribly boring."

"I can handle it."

Sighing, he runs a hand over his face and mutters something under his breath she can't quite catch, and that's when she knows she's won. "Are you absolutely sure?"

Grinning so wide it shows teeth and causes her eyes to squint, Nao nearly jumps for joy and thanks him a hundred time over, barely managing to restrain herself. "Oh, I knew you'd come around! You'll see, I'll learn it so quick ya won't be able to keep up."

"Don't make me regret it." Nao reaches out a hand to touch the parchment, but Eizo scoops it up before she can lay a finger on it. "We'll practise in the evenings, starting tomorrow. So go get some sleep, for heaven's sake. You'll be dead on your feet in the morning."

Taking the blatant dismissal for what it is, Nao scampers off to where her bag still lays. Hopes of sleep have long been dashed - both of them know it - but maybe she can manage to remember a few more constellations before the sun rises.


	7. Failure is just a springboard to success

It's a few days later when Nao finds herself sitting on the ground cross legged yet again, trying to do as Eizo instructs and failing miserably.

They had reached the next town two days prior- and it really is a town, this time! While not especially big, it's still larger than the standard villages they'd been to so far. The quiet comings and goings of villagers has morphed into the busy hustle and bustle of traders and merchants and the quaint thatch roofed homes turned into much sturdier buildings, houses and shops alike.

The change was a little startling, to be honest. When Nao asked why this one is so much bigger Eizo had said that, as one of the closest towns to the country's border, it's a trading hotspot. She didn't need the rest spelled out for her; with trade came money, and with money came more people wanting a slice of the pie.

Once again Eizo had known where to go instantly, and Nao trotted along behind him as he parted the crowd like a shark in a school of fish. At first she had tried to take in the sights and file away any potentially useful information — as she usually does — but the sheer amount of things to notice quickly overwhelmed her. All she could do was keep Eizo within easy reach, so as to not be separated.

Their first stop had been a clothing store, where Eizo bought her more weather appropriate clothes. And boy, did he go all out. Earmuffs, mittens, beanie- the whole nine yards. She refused to change her shirt or put on shoes, so he bought her the thickest jacket and pants they had and bought the shoes anyway, guessing her size. Nao found it a little excessive, but Eizo assured her she'd be grateful for it once they got further into the Land of Frost. He stored it all away into a sealing scroll slightly larger than the one he'd shown her the day before, and she found it just as fascinating as the first time.

Next was the town hall, where Eizo once again left her by the door to go and find out if there was anything people needed done. Of course, there was — because Nao never gets that lucky — and thus began their new routine. In the mornings they get up and eat, then head to the town to to whatever errands people need running; all for free, obviously. Then, after Nao can barely feel her feet, they depart a few hours after noon so Eizo can teach her what he calls the 'basics'.

If it were up to Nao they would have left this joint as soon as they'd bought what they needed. Eizo, on the other hand, had decided to stay for a while on the basis that the townsfolk were talking about a large blizzard up ahead, and that they'd wait out the worst of the storm. Normally Nao would insist they go anyway, weather be damned, but she knows firsthand just how dangerous the cold could be and to not take it lightly.

Thus, her current predicament.

"This is impossible, " Nao whines, knowing that she sounds petulant but not caring about it in the least.

"I warned you that it would be difficult," Eizo replies mildly, turning the page of his book. He'd picked it up at the town on the first day in order to pass the time, which hadn't made sense to her until he said a large portion of the early stages of her 'practice' would be _meditation._

"I can do hard, that's not a problem, but you're tellin' me ta find somethin' that simply ain't there!" Nao huffs in annoyance, stretching her legs out and cracking her back. Sitting in the same position gets immensely uncomfortable after the first few minutes and she's been doing it for _hours_. One of her legs feels like it's going to fall off and the other feels strangely tingly, not to mention the backache. "I jus' can't feel this 'chakra' shit at all."

"We can try again tomorrow," Eizo replies, looking to the sky. "It's about time to fetch dinner anyway,"

"But that's what I'm trying to tell you!" Nao exclaims, once again moving the lizard away from where it's been trying to creep onto her leg. The darn thing just won't stay put, but she can't have him distracting her while she's trying to concentrate. "It doesn't matter how many times I try, I can't feel what isn't there in the first place."

Placing his bookmark between the pages, Eizo closes his book and places it in his pocket. Nao found out that he's placed storage seals in all of his pockets but refused to put them in her own when she asked. 'If you want them, you're going to have to put them there yourself,' he'd said. Nao had foolishly agreed, not realising just how long that would take.

"What do you feel, then?" He asks, turning his body towards her.

"I don't know, " Nao answers, thinking. "Not energy in my core, that's for sure. Maybe a kind of humming? But it's everywhere, not just my stomach. Really, it doesn't make any sense to me why it would be there anyway. Why would energy be in one place? Blood isn't just in one place, it's everywhere. An' the way you put it, chakra sounds like a second kind a blood." And it really doesn't make sense. What use is energy if it's all bunched up in one area?

"To put it in crudely simplified terms, I suppose it is," he concedes, and if he were more emotive Nao swears he would be scratching his chin in thought. "Your core could be compared to the heart, dispersing energy throughout the body, which is why it's meant to be more concentrated there. You're sure you don't feel a larger amount in your gut?"

Giving up once the lizard tries to climb her leg for the hundredth time, she picks it up and places it on her shoulder, where it quickly scurries under her shirt. From the sounds of it, her 'meditation session' has come to an end anyway. "How many times am I gonna have to say it? There's nothin' special there, jus' the usual hum. Maybe it's a bit faster there? But other than that it's no different to my arms or legs, or even my goddamn pinkie finger," she says with frustration, wiggling said finger as if to prove her point.

A small crease appears in his brow at her words, and if she didn't know any better she'd say he looks _concerned._ "You're saying there's a completely equal amount of chakra throughout your body? Nowhere is there more, and some places less?"

Faltering, Nao wonders if she's said something wrong. "Well, I guess there_ is _a smidge less in my fingers an' toes, but apart from that, yeah. Why, is that bad?"

She tried to keep her nervousness out her voice as best she could, but if the way Eizo visibly forces his face to smooth out into a neutral expression is anything to go by, she fails at that, too. "I guess we can go on to the next step. As long as you can feel your chakra, that's the important thing."

Nao swallows her worry and forces a grin. "What's that then? Can we start now?"

"I'm going to be teaching you two more things from now on, but we only have enough time for one of them tonight," Eizo says, and he reaches into a pouch on his belt to pull out the same storage scroll she saw the first time. "I want you to try and activate this scroll."

Eyeing the small thing, Nao glances at him suspiciously then back at the parchment, wondering if he's trying to trick her. "That sounds simple enough," she said slowly, "but I bet this is going to be easier said than done, right?"

"It depends on the person. For some it's as easy as breathing, while for others it's something they never truly get the hang of. The trick is to use as little chakra as possible; for a small seal like this you won't need to use more than a spark," he replies, with an air of infinite patience. "It's all about control."

If this is anything like opening the caves back at Kiso, then she's probably going to fall into the latter group. But, she_ is_ the one who asked him to teach her, so she can't rightfully complain about it being too difficult.

Well, not without giving it her all first, at least.

"Are there any tricks to it?" she asks sceptically. Jumping in head first is great and all, but she'd rather avoid the exhaustion that came with opening the caves if at all possible. There was a reason she didn't sleep in them every night, despite their relative safety.

Eizo seems to realise her train of thought, because his answer is longer than the one she'd gotten for meditation. His position on that had been rather 'sink or swim.' "It's slightly different for everyone, same as everything else, but the typical advice given is to imagine the chakra in your core moving to your fingertips."

He doesn't need to say anything more for her to see the problem. Nothing in her life could ever be simple, could it? If there really is a god, then he must be laughing his ass off at the tricks he's played on her.

Fuck 'im.

Picking the lizard up from her shoulder, Nao once again places it on the ground next to her. "Stay put," she says sternly. There's little chance of him actually listening to her — she still can't tell if he can even _understand_ her — but one can only hope.

Once the lizard blinks in what she decides to take as affirmation, she brings her legs in to sit cross-legged and places her hands on her knees, setting in. Closing her eyes, she hears Eizo take out his book again and open it, content to let her figure it out on her own.

Taking control of her breathing, she sets it to a slow and steady rhythm, breathing in deeply and exhaling through her nose. The meditation has helped somewhat, at least, because she feels the familiar hum fairly quickly.

It's hard to describe, but if she had to put it into words she'd compare it to the adrenaline rush she gets from a successful pickpocketing or from running away from an angry stall owner. A jittery feeling that makes her want to move, to run in circles on the spot until she collapses from exhaustion. It makes her feel like she could do anything.

Here comes the hard part. Now that she can feel the 'chakra', what does she do with it? She can't pull it from her core like Eizo says, so what else can she do?

If she concentrates, Nao can sort of see a bluish energy flowing throughout her body, but she could be imagining it. Still, maybe she could use that.

It takes a few tries and a couple times of moving the lizard further away from her leg, but eventually she manages to… redirect the flow to her fingertips, for lack of a better term. Not all of it of course, but she can feel it flowing closer to her skin, hovering just below the surface. Opening her eyes, she looks down at the innocent looking seal in front of her.

Here goes nothing.

Placing her hand in the middle, the same as she'd seen Eizo do, Nao closes her eyes again and imagines the chakra flowing from her fingers into the parchment.

Everything happened at once.

Suddenly the lizard's mouth shut with a snap, her hand stuck within its painful grasp, Eizo's reaching out to pull her arm away from the parchment as Nao's head starts spinning, stomach twisting painfully and—

Turning around quickly, she empties the contents of her stomach onto the ground next to her, pain blossoming behind her eyes into the beginnings of what she can tell is going to be the worst migraine she's ever had.

Reaching up to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand, she stares down at it, dumbfounded. Her whole body is trembling, hands shaking so hard it's practically vibrating, but she can barely feel it over the nausea.

Looking back to the seal, Nao sees a pile of what must have been at least twenty ration bars in the middle.

"What," she says, once she's sure she won't throw up again the moment she opens her mouth, "was that?"

Eizo looks faintly startled, eyes rounder than she's seen them before and hands hovering in front of her as if he's not sure what to do, but he composes himself rather quickly. "You used too much chakra."

Nao's about to retort with a _'no shit' _when the world tilts on its axis, the floor rushing up to meet her, and she hears the lizard chirp in surprise as it darts out of the way to not get crushed.

She should get up and assure him that she's fine, but the floor is so comfortable… She'll just lay here for a little while, it's okay. She just wants to have a quick nap, the cold has always made her sleepy.

Faintly she registers the lizard moving in front of her face, but before she can ponder it any further her eyes slide closed and she slips into the warm embrace of unconsciousness.

—

The cashier cheerfully waves them goodbye as they leave the store, door closing behind them with a quiet ring of the bell.

As they make their way down the cobblestone street Nao's eyes dart from side to side wearily. She's found out a lot about herself since leaving Kiso, the most recent discovery being that large groups of people make her _nervous._

The feeling of dozens of eyes staring at her makes the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, but when she turns around everybody is just going about their own business, running their own errands or talking to each other and not once sparing her a glance. It's jarring, to put it mildly, and she finds herself longing for the solitude of the open road.

Despite her best efforts otherwise, Eizo's steady presence beside her is a comfort, and she subconsciously moves closer towards him when a particularly rowdy group of men passes them. If Eizo notices, he doesn't mention it, just adjusts his grip on the grocery bags he's carrying and turns down a side street.

"This is a pain in the ass," she grumbles without any real annoyance. After nearly a week of doing such menial tasks as pulling weeds and cleaning attics she's mostly gotten used to it. Doesn't mean she's not going to complain about it, though.

"I did say you could stay at the camp today," Eizo replies, looking down at her briefly.

It's true. When he had suggested her staying behind that morning it had taken her by surprise. Sure, waking up had been harder than usual, but after a breakfast of rabbit and some leafy plant Eizo said was safe to eat her head had stopped spinning quite as much.

"An' do what exactly? You refused ta leave me with a scroll to practice with." While this is also true, it's something she'd expected. Nao hadn't known what to say and had protested by saying she'd get bored being on her own all day so she may as well accompany him. He'd accepted the excuse readily, but that's all it was. An excuse. And a lazy one at that.

The truth is that she hadn't liked the way he looked at her, like she was about to fall over at any moment and pass out. The look in his eyes had edged too close to pity for her tastes, and she worried he wouldn't let her try again if she admitted that her limbs feel like lead and her head feels like it's stuffed with cotton.

"Chakra exhaustion can be dangerous if you don't rest properly. It's a miracle you're able walk without help right now," he answers, turning down yet another street.

"Don't be so melodramatic. Was fine after eatin' some food, really," Nao shoots back uncomfortably, shifting her bag to her other hand.

He'd been acting weird all day, even going so far as to try and carry all the bags during their 'shopping trips.' Nao managed to snag one of the smaller ones every time, though.

When she did it at the second shop the cashier smiled down at her affectionately, bordering on condescending, and gave Eizo an offhand comment about having a daughter about her age and that she wished her own were as well behaved and 'strong' as her.

Nao had made sure to 'accidentally' trip and bump into the barrel of apples by the door on her way out after that, listening to the muffled cursing of the woman as she scurried to pick up the fallen produce with satisfaction.

"How do you even know that word?" he asks bemusedly, peering down at her.

Nao feels her metaphorical hackles raise and her lip curl, and practically snarls at him. "What, ya think jus' 'cuz I ain't got no home that means I'm dumb or somethin'? News flash, dumbass, you haven't got one _either_."

Logically she doesn't _know_ that. He could very well own a house somewhere with his own white picket fence and a garden tended by his loving wife for all she knew. But even if he did, he wouldn't admit to it, and that's good enough for the sake of her argument.

Raising his hands defensively — which is quite a feat considering he has two full bags of groceries on each arm — he raises a brow and backs off. "That's not what I meant at all."

Nao deflates slightly, the spark of indignation lessening but no less felt. "Yeah," she says, aggravation clear, "what did ya mean then?"

Dropping his hands to his sides again, Eizo answers before turning to look forward again. "Merely that kids your age don't usually as many complex words as you do." Then, speaking in a quieter tone as if he expects to be taken badly, "your vocabulary is rather impressive."

The last of her anger fizzles out, a feeling of shame replacing it, which she shoves away.

'_Always so quick to anger',_ she can hear Hiroshi saying, _'Not everyone is out to get you, squirt.'_

The thought leaves a bitter taste in her mouth and her eyes feel hot, but she blinks it away and shoves that to the back of her mind, too. She'll deal with it later.

(She won't, but it's a nice lie.)

Left somewhat stunned, all she can say is "oh," and turns away from him to look at the road in front of her feet. "Guess I picked some stuff up while hanging around the markets." That's another thing to add to the list of things she's found out about herself; bad at taking compliments.

Neither of them have anything else to say, so they walk the rest of the way in silence. Once they arrive at their destination — a quaint house on the edge of town — Nao is about to drop the bags and go, not wanting to deal with yet another arrogant asshole or entitled prick, but Eizo insists they take the bags into the house for them.

Sighing, Nao waits while Eizo knocks, and when an old man with a walking cane opens the door she's already on edge. Shifting from foot to foot on the spot, she lifts her chin up to look as dignified as possible while being yelled at because of some stupid reason like '_you got the wrong type of cheese.'_

(Seriously, fuck that guy. The fact he could afford cheese at all is an injustice she can't accept.)

The old man looks at them for a second, then down at the bags in their arms. He looked surprised. Had they come to the wrong house?

"I wasn't expecting you for another few hours at least," he says, which is fair enough. They are running ahead of schedule today, which her aching legs are all too happy about. "Oh, where are my manners, making you stand out there in the cold. Come in, come in, the table is just over there." Turning around, he begins slowly making his way further in the house, absently gesturing to the right. Shrugging, Nao lightly pushes her way past Eizo to approach said table and place the bag down.

The house is much the same as all the others — a kitchen/lounge combo with a door leading to the bedroom to the left — so Nao hardly spares the interior a glance. No one else is here so it's safe to assume the man lives alone, which makes sense considering the fact that most of the food they got him are non-perishables. Eizo is slow to put his own bags down and Nao sends him a glare that he pointedly ignores, the bastard.

"Would you like a drink?" the old man asks, already taking out three glasses from the cupboard.

Nao opens her mouth to refuse the offer, already gazing longingly at the front door, but Eizo choses that precise moment to cut in. "Just water, thank you." Resigned to her fate, and maybe at least a little bit thirsty, Nao drags her feet towards the kitchen counter behind Eizo. "It's so lovely that you're both helping out around the town. I bet everyone is very thankful."

Not knowing what to say to that, Nao lifts the glass of water in front of her to take a large gulp, mostly so she's not expected to talk.

"Thank you, it's no trouble really," Eizo replies politely, raising his own glass.

"Ever since the war, well. You know how it goes. People forget that there is any good in the world, lose sight of what's important..." he trails off, and Nao freezes while taking another sip, wide eyes snapping up to look at the old man in front of her. She'd only ever heard hushed whispers of the Great War, it having happened long before she was born, but he's speaking as if he were involved personally.

Nodding at her in grave understanding, he continues. "Being so close to Lightning country and being a major point of trade at the border made us a target. My son, bless his soul, was our local blacksmith. He was assassinated by a Konoha nin for selling weapons to Kumo, his neighbour saw them leave through the window and reported it. Most folks here have lost a loved one for far more petty reasons during the war."

Nao lowers her now empty glass and stares down at it, not knowing what to say.

"The war was a bad time for everyone," Eizo says quietly, draining his own glass. There's a moment of somber silence, and Nao wishes she hadn't finished her drink so quickly.

"But," the man says, a lighter tone evident in his voice, "that's why it brought me such joy to see the two of you together and helping out. Maybe there's hope for us all to get along after all." She's not sure what he means by that, but is happy that some of the tension has eased. "Oh, look at me, bothering you two with an old man's woes. You're leaving soon, right? Let me grab you a little something for the road."

"There's no need, we're happy to be of service," Eizo replies, moving towards the door.

"Nonsense, it's no trouble," the man says, grabbing something out of the pantry and shoving it into Nao's hands. Opening the lid a crack and looking down at the cookies inside, she looks up at the man confusedly, who simply smiles warmly at her. "Everyone deserves a little treat sometimes."

Nao doesn't know what to say to that, so she follows Eizo out of the house and gives the man a small wave goodbye.

At least there's one decent person in this town.


	8. Altercations

Snow, Nao decides, is strange.

It's soft and powdery but crunches underfoot, which is a juxtaposition she's not keen on. It also piles up _fast._ When they went to sleep there was hardly a light dusting and when they woke up there was a good few inches of it coating the ground. Eizo must have known it was going to happen, because he had insisted they sleep under one of the larger trees and gave her a thick blanket the night before, which was lucky. The thought of being covered in what is essentially frozen water is not one Nao finds appealing.

Another thing Nao reluctantly acknowledges as lucky is the fact that Eizo bought her snow boots at the last town— not that she'd ever admit as much. She hadn't realised exactly how _cold_ snow is, and she reached her limit long before she saw a single flake. Nao may be stubborn, but she's not about to lose toes over making a point.

The shoes are still insanely uncomfortable, though, and Nao resolves to use them as kindling once they leave this frozen wasteland behind for good.

The lizard's faring as well as she'd expected, which is about as well as a fish on dry land. The moment the sun stopped being a viable source of warmth during the day he refused to leave her jacket for anything, not that she's complaining. It's her fault he's out here in the first place, and the least she can do is keep him warm.

Curiously enough, his presence doesn't hinder her meditation at all, which was her main concern. Now that she's not searching for some kind of 'chakra core', or whatever Eizo called it, she's taken a new approach. The whole 'total concentration' thing just wasn't working out, so Nao's started to let her mind wander a little. As long as she can still see the chakra moving throughout her body in her minds eye she allows herself to think about the sensations around her, too.

The lizard's presence helps, if anything. She'd much rather think about the smooth texture of his scales or the way his claws gently dig into her skin than the freezing cold making her nose numb.

Eizo's still refusing to let her try activating a scroll again, much to her chagrin. No amount of arguing that 'the only way she'd learn is to practice' would dissuade him, but she only dropped it when he promised to teach her how to _make_ seals instead.

Which turns out to be both a lot harder and a lot easier than Nao expected, for different reasons.

"What's this called, anyway?" Nao asks during her second lesson, scribing more of the strange words into a small leather notebook Eizo had given her to use. "Surely it's got a name." She'd framed it like an offhand comment, a casual remark meant to serve no purpose except fill the air, and that's true enough. It's not vital information by any means, but it's still a question that's been slowly eating away at her.

A part of her craves knowledge, hoarding any tidbits of information like a dragon would its most prized treasure, and while she tries not to indulge it she simply can't help herself. Perhaps it's a by-product of growing up on the streets — where the majority of what she knows was found out from listening to people talk when they thought no one else was listening — but now that she has someone willing to actually _teach_ her things she's going to take full advantage.

Even if it's something as inconsequential as the name of these 'words'.

"Fuinjutsu," Eizo replies, flipping another page in his book. "And you wrote the first one down wrong."

Looking at the — word? Letter? — symbol in question, Nao checks it against the list Eizo had given her. Sure enough, she'd drawn a horizontal line where it's supposed to be curved, and she flips her pencil around to erase it. "Which one's that again?"

"Vessel."

Right, she remembers now, Vessel is the one with the squiggly line on top. Making sure to write it down correctly this time, she draws a stick-figure beside it and moves on to the next one.

When Eizo first said she'd have to write out the symbols and their meanings in a notebook she'd been worried, if not outright panicked. The way he'd described it, it sounded like she's learning the equivalent of a new language, which is all well and good until she realised that _note taking_ would be a large part of the learning process. Still, she didn't bat an eyelid and prepared to bullshit her way through it the same way she does everything else, but ultimately didn't need to. The symbols' — for lack of a better term —_translations_ are more often than not easily portrayed by a drawing, and the few that aren't she can jot down a half-assed diagram of sorts to help her remember. If anyone else tried to pick up her notes and read them she doubts they'd make any sense, but maybe that's not such a bad thing.

"And that one?" Nao asks, not even bothering to point at the one in question. She hasn't for the last half dozen.

"Reservoir." She sends him a look and he flips another page, pointedly ignoring her. "It could also mean 'amount', if you wish to simplify."

She doesn't dignify that with an answer and, after a pause, she draws three small circles inside a larger one next to the new symbol. There's still over two dozen to go, and Eizo said these are only the ones directly related to the most basic storage scroll, but she tries not to let it deter her. She said she could handle it and she _meant it_, damn it. Giving up now would be nothing short of pathetic.

So she takes a deep breath, puts her frustration aside, asks Eizo about the next one, and tries her best.

* * *

They don't linger in the next town, only staying long enough to find out if it's safe to move on or not.

After doing so many random errands and chores it's a little strange to leave a village the same day they arrive, but Nao understands the logic behind it. No matter how well-prepared they are, it's still dangerous to camp in the snow, so it's only natural Eizo would want to get out of it as soon as possible.

It's slow going, though, once the snow gets so thick it reaches her mid-calf. In some spots it's dense enough to walk on, but more than once she'd taken a step only for her foot to sink in unexpectedly, causing her to fall flat on her face.

Eizo, the bastard, doesn't even seem to register that it's supposed to be difficult. He's so tall that the snow doesn't hinder him in anyway, and Nao curses her small stature. While it was useful for slipping through crowds unnoticed, it's only a pain in the ass now.

It takes another four days, but eventually the snow gets thinner and the air gets warmer, the sun once again piercing through the dark snow-clouds. The lizard also starts taking up his perch on the top of her head again, which makes Nao breathe a sigh of relief. She'd been contemplating taking off her beanie and bundling him up in it if they were stuck in the snow for much longer.

Eizo shows her how to change the compass's direction to south and after that it only takes a day for the last of the snow to melt. Eizo says they've entered the Land of Hot Water, and when Nao asks why it's called that he only says 'you'll see', like the cryptic guy he is.

Hopefully it's named after their tea or something, because she could really do with a hot drink right about now.

The greenery has also become even more densely packed, to the point that they're forced to walk along dirt trails again. If Nao didn't know any better she'd say Eizo was _antsy_ about it, his fingers twitching towards the pouch on the left of his belt at the slightest noise.

She doesn't ask about it, even though the question is practically burning a hole through her tongue. He hasn't asked why she sometimes wakes up in the middle of the night and doesn't try to go back to sleep, so it's only natural that she'd extend the same curtesy to him.

Sometime during midday they come across a fork in the road and, after much debate, (and a game of eeny meeny miny moe), Nao decides on taking the left path. Eizo wisely chose to stay silent during the whole event, allowing her to make the choice and going along with her decision easily.

As they make their way further into the country and pestering Eizo grows boring, Nao pretends to be an explorer traveling through unknown terrain. At one point she even takes out her notebook to write down senseless gibberish, pretending to be writing about the flora. Not one to waste paper, she writes down her 'notes' in the symbols Eizo has been teaching her, and he helpfully points out any mistakes she makes.

A few hours before nightfall they stumble across the country's namesake, and it causes Nao's jaw to drop.

"Woah," she exclaims, eyes wide in wonder, "what's that?"

In front of them is a small lake surrounded in lush greenery, the water so clear Nao can easily see the pebbles on the bottom, but that's not inherently interesting in of itself. What catches Nao by surprise is that the water is obviously _hot,_ steam rising and curling in the air, and she could slap herself for how dumb she is.

'Land of Hot Water' couldn't be more descriptive if it _tried._

"A hot spring," he answers dryly, but she ignores his tone in favour of rushing forward to dip her toe in the water.

"It's so warm! Is it safe ta bathe in?" Looking down at the water longingly, Nao's about ready to jump in clothes and all no matter the answer. They haven't been able to wash properly since they left the Land of Lightning due to the water being frozen from the cold, and she could really go a bath right about now.

The fact that the water is _warm_ is a definite bonus.

"I wouldn't risk it," he says, eyeing the water. "Most of the safe hot springs have been made into onsens already, and the ones with healing qualities have definitely been snapped up. They're the countries main source of revenue, after all."

Nao scowls but moves back to the path after one last mournful look at the water, grumbling as she does so. When she looks down at her feet the lizard slips forward atop her head, and he moves to perch on her shoulder while making an irritated chirp. Murmuring an apology, she sets off again, not waiting for Eizo and charging ahead.

He catches up easily and studies her face before looking away and sighing in defeat. "We can visit an onsen at the next town, if you like."

Perking up, Nao flashes him a toothy grin. "Really?"

"As long as nothing happens before we get there," he answers wearily, scanning the trees.

"You're a paranoid old man," she says, "we've been fine so far, why would anything happen now?"

He doesn't reply, but she doesn't expect him to. Truth be told, the way he's been acting has her on edge, but he hasn't said anything so she's tried to ignore it. She doubts he'd voice his concerns unless she asked him directly, and even then he'd probably just wave her off and change the subject.

They walk in silence for a while, the only sound being the crunch of dirt underfoot and ambient wildlife sounds, before Eizo speaks again. "Do you want to help me get dinner tonight?"

Startled from her thoughts, Nao blinks. "Huh?"

"I could show you which plants are okay to eat," he continues, ignoring her confusion, "now that there's enough edible plants around to do so."

Considering they've been eating mostly plants since they left the Land of Lightning she's not sure his reasoning holds up, but the prospect of learning a new skill has her excitedly agreeing anyway. It's a skill that will doubtlessly come in handy, and the sooner she starts learning the better.

So when they stop for the day, instead of making camp straight away, Eizo leads them off the path towards an area with waist-high foliage. Compared to the Land of Lightning's few and far between shrubs, the Land of Hot water's plants are downright tropical. The plants are an array of bright, vibrant colours, there are honest to god _flowers,_ and the leaves are wider and flatter, to the point she's hesitant to call them leaves at all. Do they still classify as such if the plant is nothing _but_ leaves?

"Don't eat anything unless I expressly tell you it's safe, got it?" Eizo stresses, and Nao nods along eagerly. There may not have been much greenery around Kiso but even she's heard the horror stories. Eating random stuff in general is not a good idea, to put it mildly.

It turns out there's quite a few types of plants that are safe in the Land of Hot Water, and most of them are easily distinguished from the poisonous varieties. Eizo focuses on the main ones that are plentiful and easy to remember, though, saying that it's better to stick to a few and know them well than to try and remember them all and make a mistake, which is fair enough. Nao's already trying to memorise what feels like an entire language because of fuinjutsu lessons, if anything else can be made easier then she's all for it.

Still, even dumbed down and simplified it's tricky, but after double checking with Eizo a dozen or so times she starts to get the hang of it. The one with wide, round leaves are good for their stems, all the parts of the ones with three-pronged and purple veined leaves are edible but the leaves in particular have a lot of vitamins, and finally the roots of the smaller plant with heart shaped flowers taste pretty good, but the flowers themselves are moderately poisonous. Not enough to kill you, but definitely enough to put you out of commission for a few days and leave you with an awful headache.

Only after they have enough for tonight does Nao remember to 'write' it down in her notebook, so she insists that Eizo give her the ones he's gathered so that she can draw an accurate depiction of them for later reference. It's a bit difficult to show colour with only a graphite pencil, so she ends up writing crude fuinjutsu next to the diagrams and writes out a rough approximation of 'purple' with the first letters of each word. She has to ask Eizo for help with remembering some of the words, but hopefully by the time she comes back to actually _use_ her notes she'll be able to read it on her own.

"Are the plants the same in the Land of Fire?" Nao asks as they walk to try and find a good place to eat. The lizard is already munching on his own food on her shoulder, and she hands him another piece of root once he swallows. Eizo offered to hold the food in a storage scroll while they walk, but Nao declined in favour of using the bottom of her shirt to carry it.

(This way she can sneak herself some at the same time as feeding the lizard.)

"Not quite," he answers distractedly. "The Land of Fire's air is considerably dryer, so the plants here wouldn't cope. Some of the larger villages have greenhouses which allow them to grow plants they wouldn't be able to otherwise, but they're mostly reserved for medical plants."

Which means she'll have to learn which plants are edible for nearly every country individually, which will be a pain. Still, maybe she'll find a place she loves the most and focus on there. Nothing says she has to travel to different countries when she's on her own, after all.

Kicking a rock, she watches it bounce and roll ahead of her, and when she catches up to it she kicks it again. She's about to kick it for a third time when Eizo stops dead in his tracks, and she stops next to him, nearly bumping into his side. "What," she asks, "you see somewhere goo-"

Something large appears in the corner of her eye and darts towards her, and she instinctively jumps out of the way the same time Eizo grabs her arm, causing her to stumble and drop the food. The blur lands a foot away from where she'd been standing moments before, and once she rights herself and looks over Nao's heart sinks and her mind goes blank.

Standing there, just a few feet away, is a woman with hair as white as the snow back in the Land of Frost and skin as dark as Nao's own. What makes Nao inch closer to Eizo and the hair on the back of her neck stand up, however, is what she's _wearing._

The grey shirt and pants with a white flak jacket over the top is familiar and foreign at the same time, something she's seen only a few times before but is ingrained in her brain all the same. Nao's eyes flicker up to the woman forehead, and when she sees the metal with the stylised cloud engraving her heart skips a beat.

"To what to we owe the pleasure?" Eizo asks, perfectly polite even as his hand moves behind his back where she _knows_ a hidden blade is strapped.

Shaken from her thoughts, Nao's eyes flicker over to him briefly before settling back on the woman in front of them, her eyes glued to the hand resting on the hilt of her _sword_.

The fact that Eizo is unflinching the face of someone that is clearly a _shinobi_ has all sorts of alarm bells going off, but she pushes them aside to deal with later.

This must be why Eizo has been so on edge, Nao realises. Had she been following them?

And if so, for _how long?_

"I'm here merely to talk," she says with a saccharine sweet smile Nao doesn't trust for a second. As if to punctuate her point, she drops her hand from the hilt of her sword and takes a step backwards. Trying to appear non-threatening is a pointless endeavour, though. Even street rats know that these people don't need any conventional weapons to be deadly, and no amount of distance will take you out of their range.

Eizo seems to know this too, because he doesn't even bother pretending to let down his guard. "Why, pray tell, has your group been following us for the better part of a week, then?" Eizo replies, perfectly calm even as Nao's own heart feels like it's going to burst out of her chest.

Days_._ They've been followed for _days_.

The woman's brows crease ever so slightly and her smile becomes a touch sharper before she forcibly relaxes her features, the same way Eizo often does. "I'm alone, I assure you."

The two stare at each other as if waiting for the other to back down, and Nao shifts uncomfortably. The shinobi's gaze snaps to her at the movement, pinning Nao in place and making her feel two inches tall. As the woman gives her a not-so-subtle once over, Nao presses further into Eizo's side in a futile effort to hide.

"You wanted to talk," Eizo says, making the woman look back at him, much to Nao's relief. "So talk."

"Straight to business, then? Well, no matter. This humid weather doesn't agree with my hair anyway," the woman says, flipping said hair over her shoulder. Then, voice lower and more serious, she says, "Raikage-sama wants to make you an offer."

Instantly the air becomes charged with something Nao can't even begin to understand, Eizo visibly tensing next to her. Tearing her gaze away from the woman in front of them, Nao looks up at Eizo to find him looking downright _murderous. _"Not interested."

"You haven't even heard the proposal-"

"Nothing that man can offer me would be worth it!" Eizo snaps, and Nao instinctively flinches away from the sheer amount of _venom_ in his voice.

Glancing down at her, his eyes soften and he lets out a sigh, looking back at the woman. "The answer's no. Now if that's all you wanted, we'll be on out way," he says with no small amount of steel in his voice, and then he begins steering Nao back towards the path, never once letting the shinobi out of his sight.

Just as Nao thinks they're actually going to be allowed to leave, the woman calls out from behind them. "You wouldn't have to fight, you know. The brat could even come, you'd both be well taken care of. Safe."

Eizo falters, pausing but not looking back. All signs of his prior aggression is gone, now, replaced with an exhaustion Nao's not sure is due to the late hour. He says something before continuing to walk away, Nao following, and although his voice is soft she knows the shinobi can hear him anyway.

"Nowhere is safe. That's the problem."


	9. Escape

After they're out of sight and a sufficient distance away, Eizo hands her a rations bar and continues down the path, constantly looking over his shoulder. Nao doesn't need to be told that stopping for the night is now out of the question, so she breaks the bar in half to share with the lizard and prepares herself for a long, sleepless night.

And long it was. They don't stop until she feels dead on her feet and the first rays of sunshine turn the sky into a wide array of reds and oranges, at which point they take a break just long enough for a quick power nap.

During all this neither of them talk, which puts her already shot nerves even more on edge. Every instance of rustling leaves or wildlife noises has her jumping and checking the perimeter, heart leaping out of her chest. Realistically Nao knows that if they truly are still being followed she won't be able to hear them, but the thought is more horrifying than comforting so she tries not to think about it.

When she wakes up Eizo hands her another rations bar and starts walking at a pace that forces her into an almost-jog in order to keep up. The implications of that are clear, even if she hadn't noticed him stealing glances at the tree line.

Nao tries to keep up and not let her nervousness show, because that would mean they've won. The fact that they haven't shown themselves again or tried to take them by force means that the shinobi are just trying to scare them now, and while Nao may not understand _why_ that doesn't mean she's going to let them get to her. She has more pride than that.

By the time they stop the sun has been down for hours and Nao's sure she's going to be sore in the morning. While she collapses to the ground in a panting heap, Eizo slaps a large piece of paper on a nearby tree. Watching with idle interest, Nao jolts in shock when black ink spirals outwards and forms an elaborate seal that covers the whole trunk. She can pick out a few words like _contain, border _and _quiet_ repeated a few times in different lines, but most of them are either unknown or ones she can't yet remember off the top of her head.

Taking quick strides over to another tree, he repeats the process twice more. Once the final tree of the 'triangle' has its seal the ink on all three glows briefly before turning back to black. From what Nao can see, the seals on the trees are the same, yet they clearly interact with each other somehow.

If she didn't feel like a puddle of goo she might've gotten up to examine the seal, or asked Eizo about it, but she honestly doesn't have the energy. Her stamina may have increased in spades since they left Kiso, but evidently not nearly enough.

After sharing another ration bar with the lizard Nao practises her 'writing' to pass the time, translating the symbols she knows on the tree trunks. Every time she tries to fall asleep all she can think about is the fact that _trained killers_ are nearby, so she writes until she drops.

The next few days go much the same, the only difference being that Nao takes to writing while walking, mostly to keep her mind occupied. Eventually the terrain starts to change again but she hardly notices, too engrossed in her writing and trying to ignore the feeling of eyes on her back.

Every time Nao does raise her head up from her notebook, however, the trees are a bit taller, the plants' leaves becoming a touch smaller, until eventually the tropical environment gives way to the beginnings of a forest, albeit a scrappy one.

The prickling sensation on the back of her neck finally leaves, then, and at the same time Eizo's shoulders slump.

Their pursuers are gone.

She doesn't quite collapse to her knees in relief, but it's a near thing. Wether they're unwilling to follow them into the Land of Fire or they've deemed them far enough away from the Land of Lightning she doesn't care, because the pressure in the air has finally lifted and they're _gone._

Even though there's still several hours of sunlight left they both wordlessly agree to set up camp, Nao flopping to the ground while Eizo sets up the seals at the perimeter. They don't have fresh food for dinner, only more ration bars, but Eizo says _tomorrow,_ and that's good enough for her.

* * *

When Nao wakes up and instinctively looks around for Eizo she finds a familiar stranger instead, but it only takes a few seconds of panic to recognise him. His hair may be brown rather than the dusty blond she's used to, nose a little straighter, cheek bones a little higher, but it's the eyes that mark him as distinctly Eizo. It's the same sea-foam green that makes her remember a teenager with dark skin and a wide smile — in direct juxtaposition to the way Eizo's looking at her wearily — and instead of asking the million questions that bubble to the surface she merely blinks and asks what's for breakfast.

Perhaps the Nao of a few months ago would have asked — would have gotten angry and asked and pressed and _demanded — _but she's been on the road with him for far too long to have missed the signs, and she's far from stupid enough to not be able to put the pieces together. Nao may not know who the Raikage is, but if he wants Eizo and went so far as to send _shinobi_ for him, well.

That tells her all she needs to know, doesn't it?

They end up having a fairly big breakfast, with various greens and edible flowers and berries that smell nutty and taste sweet, and it's some of the best food she's had since that time Hiroshi managed to steal a couple sticks of dango for her fourth birthday.

It brings back bittersweet memories that make her smile, and maybe it hurts a little, too, but if she doesn't think too hard about the black eye he'd sported the next day and the specks of dirt still left on the dango after he'd tried to wipe it off she can almost pretend it doesn't.

Reaching into her bag to grab her water canteen — yet another thing Eizo bought for her (_where does the money come from?)_ — Nao uncaps it, tipping it back to take a swig only to find it empty. Holding it upside down and shaking it, a single drop of water drips out, but the lizard catches it on his tongue before it can hit her shirt.

"Oi, can we find a stream or somethin'?" Nao asks, tossing her head back to look where Eizo is taking the seals off the trees.

"We're not that dirty yet," he answers over his shoulder while rolling up the paper now holding the last seal. "And I'd prefer to get a head start, just in case."

_Just in case they send someone after us_ is the message not said but heard nonetheless, and Nao scoffs, reaching up to give the lizard the last berry absentmindedly. "Yeah yeah, I get it, but I've run outta water, and, you know. I'd like to have a drink sometime today."

Stuffing the now-scroll into his pocket — can seals be placed inside a storage seal? She'll have to ask him about it later — Eizo strides over and gestures for her canteen. Nao holds it out for him, thinking he's going to give her some water from his own canteen, but instead he moves his hands together in several quick motions and then places his right palm over the mouth.

Unprepared for the sudden weight the canteen gains, Nao fumbles with it before adjusting her grip, but not before some water manages to spill out and splash onto the ground, turning the loose dirt to mud.

She stares.

"Wha- how did you _do that?_" Nao demands, eyeing the now full canteen suspiciously.

"Water has never been my favoured affinity, but even I can do something as simple as that," he replies blandly, turning around to begin walking back towards the path. "Now let's get a move on, or we'll be making camp again before we get anywhere."

Scrambling to sling her bag over her shoulder and get to her feet, Nao jogs to catch up to him. "You haven't even said where we're goin' yet!"

"West would probably be best," he says once she's next to him. "I know you wanted to see the large forests that are further in the Land of Fire, but we can always see them later."

"Why west?" Nao asks, even as she reaches into her bag to pull out the compass.

Glancing down at her and pointing to the correct point, he replies, "Outside of missions and wartime the borders of larger countries are generally avoided, so I planned to stick to the outside of the Land of Fire."

Setting it so they're headed in the right direction, Nao nods along and turns slightly to the right. "Whatever you say, boss man," she says, and gives him a mock salute.

* * *

"-and then he tripped over his own fallen food!" Nao finishes, snickering at the memory.

The sun is once again high in the sky, and after days of seeing the same scenery with no towns in sight Nao's devolved to telling Eizo her favourite escapades. There's only so many games of I-Spy you can play with a lizard that doesn't do much more than blink, after all, and Eizo isn't exactly a thrilling game partner himself.

"Did that really happen?" Eizo asks incredulously, raising a brow.

"'Course it did! Would I ever lie to you?" Nao answers, moving to the left slightly to stay in the direct sunlight. There's enough scratch marks on her arms from the lizard moving to stay in the sun as it is, and she can do without him ripping out chunks of her hair as well.

"Remind me again how we met?"

"With you stalkin' an innocent kid in an alley, why, don't you remember? I mean, I knew old people got a bit funny in the head, but I thought you'd have another year in you at least."

"Innocent kid, huh?" Eizo asks, his steps not once faltering even as Nao darts in front of him to get to the next patch of sunlight.

Raising her hands up in defence, Nao tries to keep from smiling, only mostly succeeding. "Hey, I didn't do nothin'."

"Sure, _kid._ Your horns hold up your halo."

The surprise of what he'd said crumbles what little restraint she had and Nao lets out a loud, boisterous laugh that shakes her frame and causes the lizard to grip her hair painfully in order to not fall off her head. "Did- did you just make a _joke?"_

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Eizo replies evenly.

"You did! My god, I never thought I'd see the day_ Eizo the Bland Bastard_ says an actual joke!"

His other brow raises. "The bland bastard, huh?"

"You never told me ya last name, so I made one up for you. You're welcome, by the way."

Eizo shakes his head in lieu of an answer, and Nao starts laughing again.

* * *

The next town they come across is almost exactly on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields, and despite it's optimal position for trade, it's quite possibly the poorest village Nao's seen so far — even rivalling Kiso — but you wouldn't know it just by glancing at it.

The buildings are worse for wear, gardens non-existent and people thin, but they clearly make the most of what they have and are always smiling, something Nao finds suspicious. The memory of what it's like to be starving — stomach never quite full enough even after the rare full meal — is ingrained in her mind, and anyone that can smile through that sort of pain either has a few screws loose or is a terrific liar. Nao's not sure which is worse.

Instead of waiting outside the town hall while Eizo goes in to find out about the Chump Chores™, Nao says she'll meet him by the door in thirty minutes and leaves to walk around the village. She doesn't wait long enough to see if he has any objections, but even if he did have any Nao wouldn't have listened. It's not like she's going to get lost, the village isn't big enough for it, and she's tired of waiting around while adults look at her like she's a lost little kid.

So she wanders the streets, and when people begin giving her weird looks she switches to moving through the alleys. It's more familiar anyway, and even though she's in a completely different village — a different _country _— navigating them is as easy as breathing. Nao has no specific destination in mind, but she knows what she's looking for and therefore knows the most likely places she'll find it. The alleys behind the few restaurants and bars the village has turn up nothing, which is to be expected considering the hour, so she moves on to the alleys by the markets.

When they, too, turn up with nothing her suspicion returns tenfold.

Taking out the watch she nicked from Eizo when they first met from her bag to check the time, Nao's eyes narrow when the hands are in the exact same position they were in when she first left. Reading a clock is one of the few basic skills Hiroshi had made sure she knew, and while the lessons on it are hazy at best she's sure the big hand is supposed to have moved by now.

Looking to the sky she tries to discern how much time has passed, but she's never been the best at it. A rough approximation of the hour is about as good as she gets, and she's sure it hasn't quite reached a full hour, but that still leaves quite a wide range.

Figuring it's most likely been long enough, Nao heads back, zigzagging in the general direction of the town hall. When she arrives she knows she's late from the look on Eizo's face, but people are giving _him_ the weird looks this time, so it's worth it just for that.

Slinking up to him, Nao waves the watch in front of her — pointedly ignoring how the lizard's head moves to follow it— and shrugs. "Your watch is broken, it ain't my fault."

"Yes, it has been broken the whole time. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed earlier."

Nao should be surprised that he'd had a broken watch on his wrist when they 'met', but she's more shocked that he hasn't yet begun leading the way to their first Chump Chore. "What happened while I was gone?" she asks, eyes narrowed and hands on her hips.

"Nothing happened."

"Great," she says, completely unconvinced. "Then lead the way." Sweeping an arm out to gesture to the main street, she waits three seconds before dropping it to her side again. Nao's by no means an expert in emotions or expressions, but the way Eizo is looking at her screams _I want to say something but don't know how you'll take it,_ and she doesn't know what else do to other than wait.

"How do you feel," he starts, voice not quite laced with trepidation, but edging on it, "About traveling with company for a while?"

Nao blinks once, twice, then drops her other hand from her hip and sighs. "What did ya sign us up for this time?"

"Some merchants need to travel to the Land of Earth," he says, "and we're heading in that general direction, so I volunteered my expertise."

"And when do these merchants leave, exactly?" Nao asks, and while she tries to keep her voice even, she's not very good at it, and 'expertise' can only really mean one thing, can't it?

"They were waiting, but we can leave tomorrow."

Tapping a foot, Nao bites her lip, reaches up to pet the lizard, and thinks it over.

"On one condition," she finally says, fully aware that if he truely wanted to he could just put his foot down and she'd have no option but to go. "You teach me to activate seals. For _real_, this time. No stoppin' after a failed attempt for two, yeah?"

He could easily say no. He could say no and insist they travel with the merchants anyway, and she'd follow him because she's not ready to strike it out on her own yet. She knows this, he knows this, and his face doesn't pinch up so much as it completely smoothes out, but it conveys the same thing.

"You're set on wanting to try again?" he asks, which is stupid.

He should know by now that if she mentions it, it's something she's set on, so she takes a leaf out of his book and raises a single brow.

"Okay," he concedes, "but we won't start until tomorrow evening." Nao's nods and is about to ask what they're going to do until then, but he cuts in before she can get a word out. "And you have to take a break if I tell you to, even if it's a week long. This is important."

Nao wants to argue and say that she was _perfectly fine_ after a good nights sleep last time, and a week is excessive even for him— but it's better than not at all, and she really does want to learn, so she swallows her pride and gives a sharp nod. "Fine."

And that's that.

* * *

When they arrive at the edge of the village the next day the merchants are already there loading their carts. It's not a large caravan, only five ox-pulled carts total, but they're piled high with various wares that could easily turn a tidy enough profit, especially for a poorer village.

While Eizo moves to talk to the man loading the cart at the front Nao hangs back to inspect who they're going to be traveling with for the foreseeable future. The merchants are, in fact, families, and each family seems to own a cart. Most of them are middle aged couples with another man for an extra pair of hands, but the one at the back consists of an old lady with a teenage boy and a young girl. All and all there are fifteen people, which is both manageable and nothing to sneeze at.

"I offered to escort them back as well, but they declined," Eizo says when he comes to stand next to her. Nao grunts in acknowledgment and crosses her arms, watching the two kids load the last few items. The girl, who looks a tad younger than Nao herself, is struggling to lift a bag and the teenager gives her a hand, causing the girl to puff up indignantly and insist she can do it herself.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothin'," Nao answers, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"If you say so," Eizo says in a way that indicates he doesn't believe her at all, but before he can ask his not-as-subtle-as-he-thinks questions the man Eizo had been talking to earlier begins approaching them.

He's a thin man, tall and wiry, but his crows feet speak of days spent laughing and there's kindness in his eyes when he notices her. "Ah, Koji-san, we're ready to go when you are. Who's your son?"

"Hikaru," Nao replies, even though the word _son_ makes her skin crawl. "It's nice to meet you."

The man's smile broadens, and Nao hates the way he looks down at her. "What a delightful young man, and with such manners, too," he says in a patronising voice, and she has to fight to keep the scowl of her face. "You've raised a good one, Koji-san."

She's about to throw their cover out the window and do something _he'll_ regret when Eizo cuts in, sensing that her non-existent patience has run out. "I'll travel at the front of the group, and we can leave straight away."

"Of course. I'll go let everyone know we're going."

Once the man is gone Nao spins to glare at Eizo, but he doesn't look at her. "I still don't get why I've gotta be your kid, we don't even look alike."

"You do know why, you just choose to pretend that you don't."

Nao snorts but doesn't bother to deny it, instead turning to watch as one by one the oxen begin to move and pull the carts. Using different names makes the most sense — because if anyone is trying to find out where they are that's the first thing they'll ask around for — and being related will keep people from asking questions, but that doesn't mean Nao has to _like_ it.

"Alright," Eizo says and claps his hands together, "Come on. I'll give you a new set of fuinjutsu words to learn, and I think you're about ready for a base matrix. I'm curious to see if you can figure it out."

Perking up at the promise of something new, Nao follows him when he starts to walk alongside the middle cart and listens eagerly as he starts to explain what a 'matrix' is.

If traveling with others at a slower pace means they have more time for lessons, maybe it won't be so bad after all.


	10. Annoying is the New Boring

Boredom, as Nao quickly found out, is a constant companion while traveling.

There's not a whole lot to do, something she realised mere days after leaving Kiso. Walking becomes mind-numbing after a while, the scenery bland, and if you're going to survive with all your brain cells intact you have to either occupy yourself with something or make your own fun— and even then things grow dull quickly.

The feeling is a foreign one, not being something she's used to dealing with. Back at Kiso she'd been too busy to really _get_ bored — even when Hiroshi was doing most of the work — and most of her downtime was spent sleeping. Needless to say, once she got the hang of practising fuinjutsu writing while walking she latched onto it just to have something to do.

Which is probably why she realised there's something not quite right with the matrix Eizo gave her so quickly.

It's only day two of traveling with the merchants when she starts to suspect something is off, Eizo having given her the scroll the 'matrix' is inked on the day before. He'd given a brief, bare-bones explanation of what it is and then left her to it for the most part. Apparently there are a few 'base seals' that people use and expand upon in order to make fuinjutsu easier on themselves, a sort of foundation that most of the more elaborate seals use for the sake of simplicity. This is supposedly one of them, but he didn't tell her what it's supposed to be a base _for._ When she asked he'd basically said 'figure it out yourself', only more politely and with far more words.

Never one to back down from a challenge, Nao took out her notebook and started trying to decipher it straight away, checking the symbols' definitions with her rudimentary self-made dictionary and slowly figuring out what the lines of words are meant to mean. She'd managed to make some decent headway pretty quickly, which was a surprise. Most of the symbols are ones Eizo has already given her meanings for, and those that she doesn't know she can make educated guesses about based on those around it, so it wasn't too difficult.

The fact that she maybe-sort-of snagged one of the storage scrolls Eizo keeps in his waistband for reference may have helped, but that's neither here nor there.

The recurring words like 'contain' and 'store' first had her thinking that this may just be a base for a storage scroll, which is why she nicked one from him in the first place, but it didn't take long for her to scrap that idea. Nothing about the two is the same when it really comes down to it.

The most glaring difference is the fact that there's a circular blank space in the storage scroll, but in the seal Eizo gave her there's a symbol in its place, the others spiraling outward from it. It's not one she knows either, and there are no context clues for it that she can see, so that mystery is probably one she won't be able to figure out on her own.

So her next — and most current — thought runs more along the lines of creating chakra for later use, backed by words like 'extract' and 'release', but Nao has no idea if that's even _possible_. It sounds like magic, but so does everything else Eizo's taught her so far, so who knows at this point.

But back to her current predicament.

The problem is that she can't quite put her finger _on_ the problem. Eizo drew this base seal personally, _in front of her,_ and she doubts he'd make a mistake. In the list of defining traits she's made of him in her head, 'careful' is near the top, and as much as it pains her to admit it, he _is_ at least competent.

He's leagues ahead of her, at any rate. Nao can barely read a single line of the seal without consulting her notebook first, and she can only make guesses about what this seal is even supposed to do, so it's silly that she thinks there is something wrong with it at all. It's nothing more than a gut feeling, but Nao has always trusted her instincts, which is why she's entertaining the thought at all.

There's not a lot else to do during this trip anyway, so it's not like she's strapped for time to figure it out.

Lifting her head up to check that nothing's changed since they'd set off that morning, when she looks over to the merchant's carts she locks eyes with the teenage boy, who promptly looks away and starts talking to the old lady.

Nao also catches the boy's younger sister staring, but she doesn't look away and instead scrunches up her face and tilts her head to the side as if trying to figure out a difficult puzzle. If anything her stare becomes _more_ intense. The other merchants occasionally glance her way out of the corner of their eyes as well, causing Nao to shift uncomfortably and speed up in order to move to the front of the group.

On the first day she'd spent most of the day walking alongside Eizo at the front, but listening to him idly chat with the scrawny man that acts as a leader of sorts for the merchants got mind numbing enough for her to seriously contemplate bashing her head against a tree for the sweet release of death.

That man is the kind of guy that's so proud of his profession that he'd talk the ear off an elephant about it if it would stay still long enough. Too bad for him that his profession is about as exciting as a pair of snails racing around a grapefruit— and not even an exciting grapefruit, either. A moldy grapefruit with a bite taken out of it and worms eating its insides, the kind not even the most desperate animal would give a second glance.

If Nao has to hear one more thing about inflation and foreign policy impacting trade agreements she'll jump off a cliff, but not a moment before shoving _him_ off it first.

So this morning she'd tried walking alongside the carts towards the back of the group, but that had proven to be even worse. The moment she got within hearing range of them they'd gone dead quiet and shot her nervous looks. What was really unusual, though, is that the old lady gave her the worst stink-eye Nao's ever seen and pulled the kid her age away when she tried to approach. The teenage boy didn't seem to care about her presence either way until the old woman said something to him in a hushed whisper, at which point he'd sent her a dirty look too.

Nao's all for standing her ground and not caring about what other people think, but even she has a limit. That limit turned out to be three hours of suspicious looks and no one making eye contact with her.

Luckily the dirt roads they're using are wide enough that if Nao walks by the tree line she's far enough away from the main group that they — mostly — don't pay her any mind. She can still hear their conversations, but she doubts they realise that, and she's not about to tell them.

She has no idea why they don't like her, but it's far from the first time she's been hated for seemingly no reason.

Feeling the lizard shift under her shirt, Nao pulls her collar to the side to let him out. Much to her surprise he doesn't move to his favoured spot on her head and instead skitters down her arm to rest in the middle of her still-open notebook, blinking up at her.

It's the first time she's really _looked_ at him for a while, and she swears he's grown without her noticing. When he first found her she first found him, he fit snuggly into her palm. Now, however, he's roughly the length of her entire hand, the tip of his tail brushing just past her middle finger when she checks. It's then that Nao realises she has _no clue_ about anything to do with lizards, including how large or fast they grow. What if he gets too big to carry? What if he starts needing more food than she can gather?

What if he becomes a big ol' glutton and starts trying to nick _her_ food?

Oh, wait, he already is. Never mind.

As if he can sense her thoughts, the lizard chooses that exact moment to chirp and nibble on her hand, his not-quite teeth gently grazing her skin. Looking up at the sky, the sun is high in the sky, and by her estimate it's bang on noon, which she expected. Everyday, like clockwork, the lizard reminds her about lunch — or more specifically, the fact that they haven't _had_ lunch yet.

"Do you wanna grab one of those bars from Eizo an' split it?" Nao asks, and the lizard chirps in what she decides to take as a yes. "Alright, c'mon. May as well fatten you up a bit before eatin' ya when I get sick of you annoyin' me," she says down at it without any real irritation, making a bee-line towards Eizo when the lizard chirps again.

Hopefully, as long as she stays out of the merchants' way, this trip will be relatively painless.

* * *

"Are you a boy or a girl?"

Eyes flicking up from her notebook to meet large brown ones of the blond five year old in front of her, Nao has to forcibly keep herself from growling like a feral dog at the interruption. She was on the edge of a breakthrough, damn it, she could _feel_ it. "Didn't your family tell you not to talk to me?"

Not waiting for an answer, she brushes past the girl — who's the same height as herself, which is just plain _sad _— and Nao hopes that she'll get the hint, but doesn't find it likely.

Sure enough, the girl — Nao thinks she heard the teenager call her Himari? Hima? — bounces right back like the weed she is to walk next to her, staring openly at her face. Nao sends the girl an ice cold glare, but when she's not affected by it in any way she goes back to studying the matrix in her book.

"So which are you, a boy or a girl?"

Or she would, if the pest would_ leave her alone._

"You didn't answer my question."

At the reminder the girl's face screws up like she's caught whiff of something particularly nasty, and Nao might have found it funny if the whole situation weren't so infuriating. "Nii-san said not to talk to strangers, but how do you get to know someone if you don't talk to them? And you're not a stranger, I know you! Your name's Hikaru."

The irony of that statement almost earns a chuckle, but Nao manages to keep it in. Somehow.

"Does it really matter?" Nao asks, and when all it earns is a blank stare in return she elaborates. "Does it matter if I'm a boy or a girl?"

Confusion washes over the girls face, but it quickly turns into such a look of horror that anyone would think Nao had just declared dessert the worst meal of the day. "Of course it does, I can't be your friend if you're a boy!"

Raising a brow and closing her notebook — seeing as concentrating is nigh on impossible at the moment — Nao debates the pros and cons of asking, but ultimately curiosity gets the better of her. "Why's that?"

"Because boys smell, and they're mean, and dumb! The boys at home don't even know how to braid hair," she answers primly, which makes Nao snort.

"Those are the stupidest reasons I've ever heard," Nao says, then cuts off the girl when she tries to protest. "Besides, your brother's a boy an' you like him jus' fine."

"That's not the same!" she cries, puffing up her cheeks in a way that looks, in Nao's humble opinion, utterly ridiculous.

"Well," Nao says slowly, sensing an easy out of this conversation, "I'm a-"

"Hina-chan!"

The girl stops dead in her tracks and has the decency to look sheepish at the sound of someone calling her name, and Nao turns around to check who it is. Seeing the teenage boy marching towards them and a few of the adults looking their way, Nao lets out a sigh and turns back around to continue walking, only half listening as the boy tells the girl off.

Maybe now she can read her notebook in peace.

* * *

Taking a bite out of a root, Nao gives the lizard that's perched on her knee a leaf and stares into the fire. Her feet stopped hurting after a full day of walking ages ago, but it's still tiring, and her muscles burn from the strain. There are no breaks while traveling with the merchants and she never really got a break after the whole run-until-the-shinobi-are-gone incident, so needless to say she's not feeling especially peppy right now.

The merchants have set up their own camp the same way they have all the previous nights; as far away as humanly possible from them while still being in their line of sight. Nao can understand the sentiment, truly, but if the teenager could stop sending her dirty looks then that would be great.

"Can I practise usin' seals tonight?" Nao asks hopefully, stuffing the last stem in her mouth and ignoring the lizard's look of betrayal. She _knows_ he still steals the rations bars stashed in her bag, he's not exactly hurting from hunger.

Eizo has only let her practise roughly every second night under strict supervision and 'safety measures', even when she insists she's fine after a night's rest. Nao might have put up more of a fuss about it if he didn't help her with the fuinjutsu words every other night, and she suspects that's half the reason he does so in the first place. Ah well, at least she's getting better.

Glancing up from his own meal, he gives her a once over and nods. "As long as you're feeling completely better from last time," he says, and she rolls her eyes.

"You're such a mother hen," she mocks, relishing it when he's visibly startled. (Or as startled as Eizo can be, anyway.) He looks like he wants to ask, but thinks better of it and just sighs, and she grins.

Listening in on the merchants' conversations _was_ good for something, who knew?

"If you're sure," he concedes, like the big pushover he is. Nao almost says that, too, but she suspects that if she does he'll change his mind out of spite.

Or maybe that's just what she would do.

Knowing that they won't start until Eizo's finished eating — and that no amount of glaring will make him eat quicker, which she learned the hard way — Nao tilts her head back and tries to pick out the constellations. She's not really sure why she does it, but she makes sure to as often as she can, and considering they sleep outside every night her star-watching opportunities aren't exactly few and far between. If she were feeling particularly sappy she might've said that she doesn't want to forget one of the few things Hiroshi ever taught her— but she's not, so she'll place the urge firmly into the 'something to do when bored' category.

A large, dark shape darts through the trees to her right and Nao bristles, head snapping to the side to follow the movement— but it's gone before she can move a single inch.

She'd fully expected that, though. This isn't the first time it's happened after all, and it was mostly reflex that had her moving, her nerves still shot from the shinobi encounter. No, that dark shape has been plaguing her since they left the village as if mocking her, only visible for a moment in the corner of her eye and never in her direct line of sight.

The first time she saw it was the second day of traveling in the early morning. She'd been tired and was dragging her feet, so when she saw the shadow it'd been startling but easily explained away by a mixture of tiredness and leftover anxiety, nothing to worry about.

Only that wasn't the only time she saw it.

Every day since then it's appeared, and she ceased to be able to explain it away after the fourth day. Sometimes it appears first thing in the morning, others in the afternoon, and twice now it's appeared at night, which is the worst because it means she's tensely waiting for it all day.

She's thought about mentioning it to Eizo, but half the time he's with her when it happens, and she has no doubt that if _she's _seen it _he's_ seen it. If he's not going to kick up a fuss then neither will she. Besides, the shadow is too low down, too _long_ to possibly be human, and it's probably just a wild animal. Nothing unusual or noteworthy.

Or that's what she hopes.

Hearing shuffling of paper, Nao tears her gaze away from the tree line and looks back at Eizo to see him taking out what she's dubbed his 'main' storage scroll, which only means it's the largest and most intricate one, being the length of her forearm. Most of the symbols on it are at least familiar by now, but there's also an awful lot of 'extra' lines of spiraling words that make it all the more confusing.

He places his palm on one of the smaller circles — because this one has _multiple,_ which is _wild_ — and conjures an ink well and brush with a puff of smoke so effortlessly that Nao can't help but be a little envious. It's doubtlessly due to many years of practise, but her inner petulant child wants to be good at it _now_ damn it.

"Do you have to? The ink itches," she whines, even as she holds out her wrist for him.

Eizo sends her a look.

"I know, I know. Ya don't have ta give me the whole speech again," Nao grumbles, watching as he unscrews the lid of the ink well and dips the brush in.

There's something mesmerising about seeing Eizo paint the elegant seal onto her skin, the smooth and confident strokes laying down flat and never going astray. They swirl outwards from her inner wrist and curl around her forearm; thin, delicate things that by all means should be out of place on her dirty and scarred skin but feels natural and _right_ all the same.

Eizo had drawn it all out and explained to her in immense detail the exact function of every part of the seal before a single drop of ink touched her skin the first time, wanting her to have all the facts and to know what she was agreeing to. Nao thought it was a bit over the top for something so simple, but appreciated it anyway.

And the seal is rather simple when it came down to it. It has only two functions; to detect and contain. One part of the seal detects how much chakra is flowing through what Eizo called a 'chakra point' and if too much flows through at once it activates the second part of the seal, which cuts off the flow and contains the rest of her chakra. This is all to prevent another incident like her 'disastrous first attempt'— Eizo's words, not hers.

Once the seal is in place and the ink has settled Eizo sends a spark of chakra into it and the seal glows a bright white, the ink drying instantly. Idly running a thumb over the lines, Nao remembers her wonder when she had done so the first time and the ink hadn't smudged.

It doesn't smudge now, either, and if she hadn't seen Eizo paint it on in front of her she'd think it was a strange tattoo.

"You watch, this time I'll get it. Fourth time's the charm an' all that, right?" Nao comments, trying to lighten the atmosphere that's gotten unusually heavy for a reason she doesn't quite know.

"I believe the saying is 'third time's the charm'," Eizo says, taking out the practise storage scroll and handing it to her. "And this is your fifth attempt, in any case."

"Pfft, who's countin'? I'll master this 'fenjutsu' and become the best there ever was! I'll be even better than you, an' you'll be the one beggin' _me _for help!" she proclaims, chest puffed and head held high. "You'll see."

Eizo sighs and shakes his head, but the corner of his lip quirks upwards and there's a fondness in his gaze when he looks at her, so Nao counts it as a win. "It's _fuinjutsu_, and there's no shame in failing something a hundred times over as long as you get better each time."

"Yeah, sure,_" _Nao scoffs, unfurling the scroll. "_Old man."_

He opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted by someone clearing their throat loudly behind him.

They both look up at the same time to see the man from the first day — Taishi, she thinks his name is — standing behind Eizo with a strained smile and his arms loosely crossed. Nao has no idea how long he's been waiting there trying to get their attention, and she can't find it in herself to care.

"I was hoping to speak to you about something," Taishi says in a voice carefully devoid of any frustration.

"Of course," Eizo replies evenly, his neutral facade sliding back into place seamlessly, and Nao has never despised anyone as much as she despises Taishi in that moment.

"In private," he says in a hushed whisper, eyes not-so-subtly flicking her way. Nao snorts.

"Of course," Eizo replies again, standing in a single smooth motion and following Taishi when he begins to lead the way towards a more secluded area.

Nao watches them go and then looks back down at the lizard — who's been suspiciously quiet during everything — only to find him gone from her knee. Far too used to this song and dance, she digs her hand into her bag and pulls him out while he's still munching away at a mouthful of oat bar. "I'd say you're gonna eat me out of house an' home, but I guess that can't really happen, huh?"

The lizard's only reply is to swallow and blink.

Cracking a grin, Nao places him down onto the ground next to her, figuring she may as well start practising on her own.

If he'd wanted her to wait for him, then he shouldn't have left the scroll here.

Unfurling the storage scroll and putting it on the ground once she's sure the lizard won't move and distract her, Nao places her splayed hand over the center and concentrates.

Feeling for her chakra is at least a lot easier now, and Nao can more often than not find it on the first try. It's what comes after that's tricky, manipulating the strange energy being akin to grasping at smoke, and she struggles with it.

When Nao finally manages to nudge it close enough to the surface that it starts to flow into the scroll, she tries to pull it back but is too slow. The seal on her wrist flares a bright white and forcefully cuts off the flow, and even when she physically pulls her hand away from the scroll it's too late. Most of the chakra in her hand is gone, leaving only the feeling of millions of needles being stabbed into her nerve endings in its wake.

Nao doesn't even realise she's sweating until a droplet drips down her forehead and lands on her eyelashes, rolling down her cheek when she blinks. Reaching up with her left hand to wipe the moisture away, she shakes out her right hand to try and make the pins and needles go away while attempting to control her ragged breathing.

Glaring down at the scroll and the three ration bars innocently stacked on top of it, Nao almost screams in frustration. Progress for everything else has been slow going, sure, but at least it's been _going_ at all. If anything she's been getting _worse_ with every attempt at activating this damn seal.

Taking several deep breaths, Nao narrows her eyes and scoops up the bars, shoving them to the side for Eizo to put back later. Once again placing her hand onto the scroll, she closes her eyes and concentrates on her breathing. It's always easier to feel her chakra with a calm mind, but stubborn determination is going to have to do.

Sensing the energy in her minds eye, Nao simply observes its natural flow for a moment. If she's not making any progress just by doing the same thing over and over, maybe it's time to do something different.

This time instead of trying to nudge and prod it into doing what she wants, Nao attempts to _control_ it. In theory she should be able to, considering it's as much a part of her as her arm or leg, but what's easy in theory isn't always so simple in practice. If trying to nudge it is like grasping at smoke, then controlling it is like trying to change the flow of an entire river with nothing but a spoon.

Still, she perseveres, and doesn't open her eyes even when the lizard sneaks its way onto her leg. The weight distracts her, causing her attention to drift, but she steers it back on course and keeps going. The lizard shifts, shoving its nose under her shirt, but Nao won't be swayed.

She can see the blue energy in her mind's eye, and when the lizard skitters up her side to settle himself on her shoulder under her shirt it _flares,_ becoming almost tangibly blinding in its brightness. Nao's eyes fly open but she can still _feel _her chakra swirl and rage like a current in a storm- threatening to pull her under.

The spot directly underneath the lizard, however, evens out and flows smoothly, and the soothing effect ripples outwards from the point of contact until all of it is under control, from the tips of her fingers to the bottom of her feet.

Hesitantly reaching out to try again, this time she can manipulate the flow easily, the chakra responding to her every command with hardly a thought.

When Eizo returns there's a single ration bar sitting in the middle of the scroll.


	11. Connections

Nao had thought she knew what boredom felt like.

She thought it was the open road with nothing but an emotionally constipated old man and a lizard for company, talking a mile a minute just so the silence doesn't turn your brain to mush and desperately trying to find things to occupy yourself with, and failing miserably.

She was wrong.

True boredom is being alone all day because the one person that doesn't glare at you is talking to someone you can't stand. It's devolving to the point of kicking rocks as hard as you can just to see how far you can get them to fly and feeling genuine excitement when you manage to catch a falling leaf on your head.

True boredom is reaching the point of madness and then going _a little bit further._

Nao is on a first name basis with madness these days.

Whenever her eyes begin to strain from looking at her notebook for too long she looks around to check what the merchants are doing, but it's always the same. The adults are talking amongst themselves while the two kids are in the same boat as her; looking nearly as bored as Nao feels.

Which is why she's surprised it takes the brat a whole week to approach her again.

"I asked obaa-san and she said you're a boy."

Closing her eyes and breathing out a sigh, Nao closes her notebook and looks at the girl — Hina — walking next to her. She's looking at her with a wide, triumphant grin, as if she's found out a well-hidden secret and is immensely proud of herself. It might've been cute if it weren't so grating.

"Why are you talkin' to me, then?" Nao asks, lowering her arms to her sides. "You said you don't like boys."

"I changed my mind," Hina replies smoothly, as if it doesn't matter at all. Nao knew it probably wouldn't be that easy, but she figured she may as well try.

Wondering what she's supposed to do now, Nao looks around at the merchants and their carts. Eizo is still at the front talking to the limp noodle personified — Taishi — and while Hina might leave her alone if she approaches them, that means Nao would have to listen to their conversation, which sounds worse than staying here.

The teenager is glaring daggers at her, standing by one of the carts behind them, and he can't be any older than thirteen but he's scowling like the adults used to when she was caught stealing. He isn't approaching, though, so he's most likely tried to stop Hina from talking to her already. Obviously he was unsuccessful.

"You don't look like your tou-san," Hina says, causing Nao to bristle. She looks back at her, but there's no judgement or suspicion in her voice. She only looks curious.

"No, I don't," Nao replies evenly, biting back a sarcastic retort.

Naturally, Hina asks the obligatory follow-up question. "Why not?"

Having expected someone to ask sooner or later, a few believable lies come easily, but Nao pauses before saying anything. Explaining something like 'my mom and dad were from different countries' would be a hassle, and giving a shorter version would most likely just encourage a million other questions about it, which would be even more annoying. So instead she says, "I don't know. I guess I must look like my kaa-san."

It's not even technically a lie.

"Oh," Hina says, looking strangely thoughtful. There's a long stretch of silence where they both continue walking and listen to the noise of the carts and chatter of the other merchants, and just as Nao is starting to think about going back to her book, Hina speaks up. "Well, I never knew my kaa-san either, so we can still be friends."

Startled, Nao whips around to look at Hina — searching for any hint of jest — but the girl is grinning ear to ear with no sign of deceit. Swallowing thickly, Nao narrows her eyes and sighs. "Ya won't leave me alone 'till I agree, huh? Fine."

Hina's eyes light up to the point of _sparkling,_ and Nao's so surprised by the reaction that a question slips out without conscious thought. "Why're you so happy?"

Immediately Hina's expression changes, so quick that it could give someone whiplash. Her smile all but drops, replaced with one much more subdued, and she ducks her head and looks away. Nao feels a sharp pang of guilt but doesn't retract the question. A better person would — a kinder person — but Nao is inherently selfish, and Hina's reaction has her even more curious.

"I've never had a friend before," Hina says quietly, staring down at her feet and fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.

Nao doesn't know what to say to that.

Luckily the silence doesn't stretch on for too long because the lizard pops his head out of her collar, tilting its head at Hina and chirping. The girl's head jolts up, staring at the lizard with visible awe. Nao scoffs. "He's jus' hungry. The freeloader always bugs me for lunch."

"I didn't know you have a pet, that's so cool! Obaa-san said no when I asked for one." Opening her mouth to protest — _he's not her pet! — _Nao stops and thinks it over. She really doesn't want Hina to get upset again, it would be awkward and uncomfortable for all involved, and if it makes her happy to believe the lizard is a pet, who cares? It's not like it makes it true or anything.

"Sure. Hey, you want some lunch?" Nao asks absently, looking ahead to check if Eizo is still busy. He is.

"You have extra?" Hina asks hesitantly, voice hovering just above a whisper.

Reaching her hand into her bag, Nao pulls out two ration bars from her stash and nods. "Fair warning, though, they taste like shi— bad, they taste pretty bad," she corrects herself. If Hina picks up her… language quirks, there's no doubt the teenager will get on her ass about it, and she's so far managed to avoid any direct confrontation with him. She'd like to keep it that way.

Hina's face scrunches up and she eyes the bar suspiciously, but ultimately holds out a hand for it. Shrugging, Nao hands her the bar and proceeds to rip the wrapping off her own, breaking it in half to share with the lizard. After giving the lizard his part she lifts up her hand to take a bite but stops when she hears loud coughing next to her.

_"What is that?" _Hina splutters between coughs. "It's so dry!"

Laughing at her plight, Nao takes pity and hands her the water canteen. "An oat bar. Ya can't say I didn't warn you!"

* * *

Running her fingers over the worn paper, Nao angles the book towards the fire so that she can see the illustrations better and flips the page. She steals a glance at Eizo, who's laying on his side with his back facing her, but he hasn't moved a muscle since she last checked on him.

It's another sleepless night, all hopes of rest once again dashed away by nightmares — _reaching hands and glassy eyes, pale skin and frozen limbs —_ so Nao's taken out her most prized possession to read through it for the millionth time. She's long since memorised each drawing, but the ritual is less about the pictures themselves — as pretty as they are — and more of a way to take her mind off the _other_ images burned into her brain.

Nao still sees them behind her eyelids when she blinks, but as long as she can see the sprawling landscapes and buildings when she opens her eyes it's bearable.

The surrounding area is deathly quiet, save for the faint chirping of crickets, so it's easy to hear someone approaching from behind, the crunch of dirt underfoot almost echoing across the clearing they're camped in. Nao moves her head to the side, but once she catches sight of who it is she goes back to her book.

The person comes to a stop behind her, undoubtedly looking over her shoulder, but Nao ignores them. She's content with what she's doing and is happy to wait them out. Maybe she wouldn't be if they'd approached her any other time, but not even they can ruin this for her.

Nao doesn't end up having to wait long, only turning the page another two times before they break.

"What are you doing?"

Not sparing the teenager a glance, Nao turns another page. "Lookin' through my book."

"Yeah, I can see that," he growls, "but that's not what I meant."

Nao can practically _feel_ the way he puts his hands on his hips and glares down at her like she's a naughty child, even though she's done nothing wrong. "What do ya mean, then?"

The boy walks around and comes to a stop directly in front of her, blocking the light from the fire and making the dark lines in the book impossible to see.

She moves to the side, out of his shadow, and flips the page.

"You keep talking to my sister."

Sighing, Nao places the book into her lap and finally looks up at him. He probably thinks that he's an intimidating sight, leering over her with his chest puffed and a scowl on his face, but she can't help but think that Magpie did it better. "I have a couple times, yeah."

"Well, don't!" he snaps, and Nao has to physically stop herself from rolling her eyes.

"Why?" she asks, blinking up at him. "Have I done somethin' wrong?"

He splutters for a second and seems shocked that she'd ask so outright. Had he honestly expected her to just do whatever he says without question? He's dumber than she thought. "N-no, but-"

"Then why're you actin' like I have?" Nao cuts in, not wanting to hear his pathetic excuses. Everyone _tries_ to justify their hate — _you're foal, you swear, you steal, I mean, just look at you! — _but when it comes down to it they're just excuses. People will find reasons to hate you no matter what you do and Nao's not having a bar of it. "Besides, your sister's the one that's been talkin' to _me_. So if all ya wanted was to make an' ass of yourself, mission accomplished. You can go now."

Waiting for a second to check if he's going to have a rebuttal, all he does is stare at her slack jawed, so Nao opens her book again and looks down at the page. This one depicts the boy alone on a battlefield looking at the carnage and destruction around him, his faithful canine companion nowhere to be seen.

Nao flips the page.

She's distracted from the next drawing when she hears the boy shuffle from foot to foot, clearly debating what to do next, but Nao doesn't look up and lets him flounder.

After a long stretch of uncomfortable silence he makes up his mind and sits down across from her, leaning forward to try and get a look at her book. She moves it out of his sight. More silence.

"What is that, anyway?"

Rolling her eyes and holding back from saying '_there, was that so hard?',_ Nao flirts with the idea of saying something vague again just to see what he'd do but ultimately decides against it. "A gift my- that a friend gave me a long time ago."

"It couldn't have been _that_ long ago," he huffs, and though he tries to look annoyed she can tell he's curious. "You're like what, four?"

Ignoring the obvious snub, Nao pauses in the middle of turning another page, tilting her head to think about it. To other people it probably wasn't that long ago — three years at most — but when she tries to think back to receiving it all she has is hazy, imperfect memories and the impression of being happy. The implications of that hit her like a tonne of bricks and makes her heart sink, so she simply bites her lip and gives a half-hearted shrug.

He narrows his eyes but doesn't otherwise press. "Why're you up so late?"

"You ask more questions than your sister, ya know that?" Nao says, grinning when she sees the look on the boy's face. He looks faintly startled, like he never expected to be compared to his sister in any capacity, and while she understands why, it's still amusing. "Nightmare," she sniffs, trying to play it off as nothing. Which it is. Nothing. "Why're _you_ awake? Don't ya have beauty sleep to get in? You look like you need it."

Irritation flits across his face and Nao braces herself to dodge out of the way if he lunges at her, but after a beat of silence he cracks a grin and the tension Nao hadn't even noticed bleeds out of the air.

"You're alright," he declares suddenly, leaving Nao feeling extremely confused.

Was this meant to be some sort of test? That's just the sort of bizarre thing Nao would expect a relative of Hina's to conjure up. The insanity probably runs in the family.

Not knowing what to say, Nao is left at a loss of what to do. He's not making any move to leave and she has no idea how to act around him. She can count the amount of teenagers she's interacted with for any extended period of time on one hand, and he's nothing like Magpie or Crow, or even Hiroshi. Normally Nao would continue to ignore him, but she has no idea how long they're going to be stuck with the merchants and she'd prefer to have him stop glaring at her all day, if at all possible.

Catching him glancing at her book again, Nao nudges it closer to the edge of her crossed legs and into his line of sight. Thankfully getting the hint, he moves closer, positioning himself next to her rather than directly in front of her and looks down at the book with interest.

"What's your name, anyway?" Nao asks, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

He looks over at her, making brief eye contact before looking back down at the book between them. "Haru," he replies absently.

She turns the page.

* * *

"I spy something, uh, green and…. brow-"

"A tree."

"Oh," Hina says, looking around for something else. "Okay okay, I got one. I spy something… tall, and-"

"A tree."

Puffing up her cheeks and crossing her arms in the way Nao'd seen a kid do in the Land of Frost when their mom refused to buy them dango, Hina sends her a glare that looks a lot more like a pout. "If you're so smart, you have a turn!"

Biting her lip to keep from snickering, Nao rolls her eyes and looks around to do just that.

This has become a common theme, Hina dragging Nao into some childish game or another before noon and not leaving her alone until it's time to make camp. They've played everything from word games to tag and even an impromptu game of hide and seek when Nao had attempted to continue working on the matrix by avoiding Hina all day.

Not much work got done that day — none at all, actually — but Nao can admit there was a kind of enjoyment in the act of pretending to be a spy avoiding the enemy. Or maybe someone trying to keep out of sight of a raging bull.

If Nao's being honest, she doesn't even mind Hina's antics all that much. It's actually kind of nice to hang out with her, and Nao's never really just… played before. The games Hina comes up with are usually pretty fun, and if they're not Nao manages to come up with ways to make them fun anyway.

Not that she'd ever _admit_ that. It's far too entertaining to mess with Hina.

"I spy something loud," Nao drawls, causing Hina's face to scrunch up in confusion. "An' short, annoying, whiny, kind of looks like a mix between an angry rat an' a monkey-"

"Hey!" Hina cries, catching on and puffing up indignantly. "I do not!"

"Do too," Nao replies, chuckling when Hina practically squawks in denial.

"Well, I spy something rude, and mean, and dumb and- stop laughing!"

Out of breath, Nao tries to regain control of herself, but when she looks back at Hina her laughter begins anew, snorting and doubling over while clutching her stomach. "Your face—" Nao says between bouts of laughter, tears streaming down her face, "you're right, ya look more like a mix between a tomato an' a hedgehog!"

The girls face flushes an even deeper scarlet, something Nao hadn't thought possible, and opens her mouth to undoubtedly insult her back when a loud clap of thunder interrupts them both.

Laughter dying in her throat, Nao freezes. Eyes jerking up to the sky, dark grey clouds that had _definitely_ not been there this morning roll overhead, blocking out the sun and promising havoc. Hearing Hina gasp next to her, she looks over to see her eyes as wide as Nao's own, and the flash of lightning that happens not a few second after the loud bang has Nao moving.

Sprinting to the front of the group, Nao's feet pound against the rocky ground and a single raindrop hits her nose as she reaches her destination. "Eizo, it's raining!"

Turning to peer down at her, Eizo wats until she skids to a stop and catches her breath before answering. "I know, we're going to find somewhere to stop before—"

Another clap of thunder has the rain clouds dumping their contents unto the world, and Nao hears the merchants yell and sees them scrambling to pull covers over their carts to prevent water damage. It only takes a few seconds for Nao to be soaked to the bone, and she can already tell this is going to be worse than any storm she ever experienced at Kiso. Wrapping her arms around herself but determinedly _not_ shivering, Nao blinks down at the lizard as he darts from the top of her head into her shirt. Is he going to be okay? She'd managed to keep him warm in the snow because _she_ had been warm, but right now Nao feels frozen stiff.

Hearing raised voices, she turns to see Haru a couple carts behind them, frowning and speaking to his grandmother who looks similarly, expression bordering on anger.

Before Nao can think about what that means a pile of cloth is dumped on her head, and when she jolts in surprise it slides down and catches on her shoulders. Looking down at herself she sees that the pile of cloth is in actuality Eizo's long brown coat. It's so large that the sleeves flop over her hands and then some, the fabric bunching up at her feet and dragging along the ground. Despite the rain getting heavier by the second and the soft, cotton material, the jacket is completely dry, raindrops running off it like water off a tin roof.

Upon further inspection Nao finds some swirling, softly glowing seals on the cuffs and the inside lining which she marvels at. The line work is thin and delicate, the symbols sewn on rather than brushed with ink, and Nao peers up at Eizo curiously.

"Hikaru!" she hears Haru yell from behind her, the wet slaps of shoes hitting mud getting closer. "Hikaru," he says once he reaches them, only sparing Eizo a quick glance, "Obaa-san said you can join Hina in our cart to keep dry."

Eyebrows rising, she highly doubts that the old crone had said anything close to that, but doesn't say so out loud. She and Haru have barely interacted after that unusual night, and Nao has no reason to believe that he'd fight his grandmother over something as meaningless as letting her be somewhere dry.

"Okay," she answers, eyeing Eizo from the corner of her eye. He hasn't said anything, so she's assuming it's fine. Being somewhere dry does sound nice, even with Eizo's jacket the water still soaks her hair and seeps in through the collar, so she'll take the offer for what it is. An olive branch.

Maybe then she can find a way to keep the lizard warm.

Flashing a grin, Haru leads the way over to his cart and Nao casts one last glance at Eizo before leaving. Jogging to catch up, Nao feels the mud slide underfoot and squelch between her toes, making her scrunch up her nose at the sensation.

Still better than wearing shoes, though.

When they reach the cart the old woman is sitting up front with the reins, very deliberately not looking at her. Not wanting to test her luck, Nao doesn't say anything to her as she follows Haru around the back, where he unties one of the ropes holding the tarp over the cart to let her in.

Smiling, she nods gratefully before clambering in, relishing the moment when Haru pulls the tarp back over and the rain stops pounding against her head. The cart's sides are tall enough that if she sits up straight the tarp only just brushes the top of her hair, but the large crates occupy most of the space, meaning that there's not a lot of room, even without anyone else in here with her. Nao tries to move the lizard out from under the jacket, thinking he'd be more comfortable off of her wet shirt, but he refuses to budge and digs his claws into her skin painfully, so she leaves him be.

It only takes another thirty seconds for the corner of the tarp to open again and for Hina to take up what little space there had been, their legs touching even when both of them pull them up to their chests. Even with the tarp fully closed there's enough gaps in the sides to let in enough light to see by, and Nao can clearly see how frightened Hina is every time there's a clap of thunder or a flash of lightning.

Nao has no idea what to do with this information, though. A friend would probably comfort her, but Nao's no good at that and they're not _really_ friends, no matter what Hina seems to think. So instead she nudges the girl with her foot and asks if she wants to play one of the many word games Hina had taught her.

Hina nods excitedly and launches straight into it, and after a few minutes she stops flinching at every loud noise.

After an hour Hina starts slurring her words, and only a few minutes after that she stops responding altogether, curled against one of the crates and fast asleep. Leaning her head back and closing her eyes, Nao listening to the rapid _tap tap tap_ of the rain against the plastic tarp.

They've been traveling with the merchants for weeks by now, and Nao is no closer to figuring out the matrix Eizo gave her, still only left with her starting theory. At least she's a lot better with activating storage scrolls since figuring out the weird lizard trick, rarely ever summoning two ration bars and not once activating the seals Eizo still insists on putting on her wrist.

Wait.

Storage scrolls.

Opening her eyes, Nao puts her hand into one of the coat pockets and feels some raised stitching where there is undoubtedly a storage seal sewn and debates what to do. Had Eizo given her his jacket assuming she wouldn't do anything? Had he given it to her assuming she _would?_ Had the thought not even crossed his mind? She doubts it, but who knows.

Nao stays like that for a while, silently listening to Hina's quiet snoring and the rain, her heart hammering in her chest. She _is_ a lot better at activating storage seals, but she's never tried to put anything back before. If she ended up not being able to put anything she summoned back and Eizo caught her, she could always claim to be practising out of boredom…

Mind made up, Nao closes her eyes and feels for her chakra, finding it almost instantly. She's been practising feeling for it with her eyes open with Eizo, but now is no time to do anything half-assedly; she doesn't have a suppression seal to fall back on, after all.

Her chakra is so different that Nao has to wonder how she never realised how much of an effect the lizard has on it, the contrast is night and day. Without him her chakra is a raging current, fierce and untameable like a wild animal, but when there's so much as a single point of contact between them it changes drastically; becoming smooth as glass and as calm as the lizard that makes it possible.

It feels _right _in a way Nao has never experienced before.

She wonders if the lizard can feel it too, and if that's why he refuses to leave her for longer than a few seconds. If so, then she's sorry for every time she's ever tried to get him off her.

The process of activating the seal is the same yet different at the same time, like when she used to draw with charcoal on brick and then switched to wood when a store owner found childish scribbles on the side of his building and threatened her with a stale baguette. She's doing the same thing but the texture is unfamiliar, not what she's used to, so she subconsciously adjusts her approach until it clicks.

It takes no time at all for a puff of smoke to lazily rise out from the coat pocket and for her fingers to brush against a roll of parchment. Checking to make sure Hina is still asleep — she is — Nao takes it out, careful to not make too much noise. Hina strikes her as a heavy sleeper, but you never know.

Unfurling it, Nao looks down with the excited thrill that comes with doing something you know you shouldn't, but it fades to disappointment quickly.

It's a storage scroll.

The paper is thicker than the normal storage scrolls, is trimmed with a shimmery green ink and the seal has obviously been modified, but Nao can recognise enough to know it's functionally just another storage scroll.

Frustrated, she doesn't even think before trying to activate this one, but her chakra rolls off it like water on oil. Fingers tightening their hold, the paper crinkles and threatens to tear.

It's empty.

Squashing the flare of irritation, Nao loosens her grip and takes a deep breath. Lets it out. What was she expecting, something exciting? Damning? It's just his jacket, for crying out loud. She should be more surprised that she didn't find a pen or something.

Shoving the paper back into the pocket, she reaches for her chakra again and thankfully manages to seal it away, the weight vanishing and fabric deflating. Settling back in and leaning her head back, Nao closes her eyes and resumes listening to the rain.

She could try again, but it would most likely be a waste of time and energy. Doing it once was already pointless, and she's not in the habit of doing pointless things twice.

(It hits her that it's also a breach of privacy, but when has she ever cared about that?)

The rhythmic pitter-patter slowly drowns out Nao's thoughts, the low rumbling of far away thunder lulling her to sleep as her breathing evens out.

For once it's a dreamless slumber.

Then she wakes up to the sound of howling.


	12. Farewells

**Important notice at the end!**

* * *

Waking with a start, Nao's head jerks back and slams into the wood behind her, causing her to see stars and a sharp pain to blossom behind her eyes.

Rubbing the back of her head with a wince, she squints in the dark and finds Hina still fast asleep, drool threatening to run down her chin. Nao scarcely has a few seconds to wonder if she'd dreamt the whole thing when another ear-piercing howl cuts through the air, the shrill sound making her cover her ears and screw her eyes shut.

Even with her hands as a barrier she can hear the howling clear as day.

Once the awful sound stops, Nao waits with bated breath to see if it's going to start up again, but drops her hands again when she counts to ninety and nothing happens. Eyes adjusting to the dark somewhat, she sees Hina awake with her legs pulled up to her chest and wide, fearful eyes staring into her own. She opens her mouth to say something but Nao brings her finger up to her lips, telling her to be quiet.

Hina visibly swallows and shakily nods her head. Satisfied that she's going to stay still, Nao twists to peer through the gap in the tarp. It's dark enough that she can't have been asleep for long though, and all she can make out for sure is that the rain has stopped, but she could have found that out from the lack of noise.

It's deathly silent, as if everything around her is collectively holding its breath, and Nao finds herself doing the same.

She counts another thirty seconds before cautiously reaching out to untie the corner of the tarp, muscles tense and ready to move at a moments' notice.

Just as she's about to peel it back something touches her side.

Nao sucks a breath in through her teeth and whirls around, coming face to face with Hina.

She has a fistful of Nao's shirt and is trying to pull her back down, shaking her head, gaze darting between her and the tarp. Hina's eyes are shiny with unshed tears, which catches Nao off-guard. There's no reason for her to be crying, but Hiroshi had sometimes cried out of frustration, so maybe it's like that.

Reaching down to pry Hina's hand off her shirt, Nao ignores her pleading look and turns back around to move the tarp, peering over the edge of the cart.

Eyes adjusting to the dim moonlight, Nao doesn't see anything out of the ordinary. In fact, Nao doesn't see anything at all. Everything is still, the oxen of the cart behind her the only living things in her line of sight, and the merchants are nowhere to be seen. She might be inclined to think that they're asleep somewhere but Haru's snores could be heard from a mile away — something Hina often complains about — and there's a distinct lack of it grating on Nao's ears.

"Stay here," she whispers, not checking if Hina heard her before starting to climb out. Feet hitting the still-damp earth, she hears Hina whisper a reply but can't make out the words over the blood rushing in her ears.

It's too quiet.

Taking a hesitant step forward, Nao immediately scrambles backwards when the dark shape that's been haunting her appears in the trees to her right, and nearly trips over herself to get away when it _darts in front of her._

Managing to catch herself before she lands on her ass, Nao feels her heart skip a beat when she looks up.

Right there in front of her, just a few feet away, is the largest dog she's ever seen.

It has its back to her, keeping its body low to the ground and its large pointed ears pointed forward, its bushy tail just off the ground. Nao can't see what colour its coat is in the dark, but she can spot black swirling markings covering its fur in an intricate pattern and a black tip to its tail. Its left ear flicks back to her briefly when she takes a step back, but is otherwise staring intently at the trees.

There's a long stretch of silence where all Nao does is listen to her too-rapid breathing and try to calm her pounding heart, but it's a lost cause. The 'dog' cuts an imposing figure — considering it would be taller than her at full standing height — and even though she can't see its face all Nao can imagine is its lip curling back to reveal long, wickedly sharp teeth, saliva dripping from its open maw.

Glancing at the cart Hina is in, Nao really hopes that the girl will listen to her for once and stay put.

Head snapping up at the sound of metal clashing against metal, she squints to try and peer through the trees, but it's too dark to make out anything. Steeling herself, Nao takes a few steps forward, edging around the canine. Eizo is nowhere to be seen, and what if the shinobi have found them again? The thought of Eizo in trouble keeps her putting one foot in front of the other, and she only stops when the (wolf?) dog lets out a low, rumbling growl.

"My friend could be in danger," Nao says, fully aware that the animal can't understand her. "I have to go help."

She has no idea what she'll do when she gets there, but she's always been good at thinking on her feet. She'll come up with something. She has to.

The dog lets out a louder growl, and Nao swears she can feel the sound reverberating in her chest. Giving a single, lazy wag of its tail, it starts prowling from side to side, not once moving its attention away from the trees.

Now that Nao's more or less parallel to it she can see its face clearly, its snout being much more slender than she was expecting. Its eyes are a bright electric blue, which is unusual in of itself, but what really catches her attention is the large scar that runs across its face and down its jaw. It cuts through its right eye, which has the same milky sheen that the old beggar that would sit on the main street corner used to have, before he died two winters ago.

A resounding _**boom**_ signals an explosion further ahead — far enough away to not be seen but close enough to be felt — and the canine lets out a deep and guttural snarl when a flock of birds erupt from the trees, spooked by the noise.

The grating metal-on-metal clashes start up again, and the air becomes so charged with electricity that the hairs on the back of Nao's neck stand on end.

It suddenly feels like getting out of the cart was a very stupid thing to do.

Nao stands there for what could have been a few seconds or a few decades, torn between turning tail to join Hina again and making no sudden movements lest the dog decide she'd make a good meal. She doubts any amount of insisting she's all skin and bones would stop it from making her _inn_ards into _out_-ards.

The decision is made for her when the dog launches itself in her direction at the same time as a large shape darts out of the trees. Her instincts have her turning around to duck behind the cart, heart racing a mile a minute, and Nao's about to book it down the trail when she hears a strangled, gurgling scream followed up by the sound of flesh _tearing_ from bone behind her.

Blood draining from her face, Nao once again feels rooted to the spot. She wants nothing more than to run away as fast as she can but _Hina is still in the cart_.

Nao hears yipping but it sounds like it's at the end of a tunnel — _the frigid air nips at her nose, blood stained snow lying at her feet, smell of rot thick in the air_ — and she takes a deep, shuddering breath when she hears the dull thud of a body hitting the ground.

She should do something, run or scream for help or anything —_ the stench of decay crawls its way down her throat _— but her limbs feel like lead, tongue thick in her mouth and she stumbles when she tries to take a step forward.

The clearing goes silent, even the clashing in the distance having stopped, and all Nao can imagine is the not-wolf looming over her trembling form, its open jaws revealing long canines glinting in the moonlight and blood dripping from its mouth. She doubts that such a large animal could move with half the grace it would require to sneak up on her, but that doesn't stop the irrational fear from gripping her heart or the phantom feeling that someone is watching her every move from paralysing her.

Taking a few deep breaths, Nao clenches her hands into fists and gathers up the rest of her courage.

Slowly — oh so slowly — she turns around.

Just as the legs of the fallen man come into view a hand comes down to cover her eyes, and Nao jerks in the loose hold, a scream catching in her throat.

"Don't look."

At the familiar sound of Eizo's voice, worn and rough, Nao slumps, the rest of her energy evaporating. There's a long silence where neither of them speak a word, the only sound being Nao's ragged breathing and heartbeat that she's sure he must be able to hear.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Nao finally whispers, the words sounding hollow even to her own ears. He doesn't reply, but that's enough of an answer in and of itself. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, Nao nods and screws her eyes shut.

"Don't open them until I tell you to, okay?" Eizo murmurs, waiting until she nods again before dropping his hand, and she feels him step away. "I need something that's in my jacket pocket, is it okay if I get it?"

Not trusting her voice, Nao nods and shrugs it off to hand it to him. There's a swish of fabric and the rustle of paper, then the slight _poof_ she's quickly come to associate with a sealing scroll, and he says that she can open her eyes.

He's standing in front of her, his long jacket done up to cover his shirt, and Nao hates that his usually stoic face is pinched in concern. "Are you alright?"

Eyes feeling suspiciously hot, Nao blinks and gives a small, wobbly smile. "Yeah, 'course I am. What, uh, what happened?"

Eyes hardening even as his expression doesn't outwardly change, his fingers flex around the rolled up scroll in his hand. Upon noticing her staring he stuffs it into his pocket. "A… problem arose. It has been dealt with." A chill runs its way down her spine at his tone, flat and emotionless, but if he notices he doesn't say anything. "We should tell the others that it's safe to come out of their carts now, and find those that left to hide."

Muttering in assent, Nao deliberately doesn't look at the pool of blood sinking into the dirt and follows him on unsteady feet when he starts walking away. The pace is slower than she's used to, but if they go any faster she's sure that she'd collapse and throw up her lunch, so she's grateful for it.

She doesn't mention the absence of the dog.

She doesn't mention the dark stains on Eizo's pants.

She doesn't mention the singes on the hems.

She doesn't want to know.

* * *

Hours pass in a blur, then days.

It turns out that most of the merchants had been told by Eizo to hide in their carts, and those that couldn't fit — like Haru and his grandmother — had hidden nearby. Nao doesn't know who the attackers were, but she's heard whispered theories ranging from bandits to bounty hunters to shinobi.

She really hopes that last one is nothing more than wild speculation.

Hina had rushed up to her and done what Hina does best; prattled on and talked non-stop without actually saying anything. It was all a bit overwhelming, and when Hina noticed that Nao wasn't paying attention she asked if she was okay.

Nao hadn't known what to say. Nothing had really happened, she was — is — fine, and for all intents and purposes everything is the same as it was a week ago.

Only that's not quite right, because something _had_ changed, just not something Nao wants to or can explain, because she doesn't even understand it herself. All she knows is that there's a hole in her chest and when she thinks about it too hard — _a crumpled body in the snow_ — she feels…

Hollow.

So Nao shrugged Hina off and avoided her as best she could, ignoring her hurt expression.

They're not friends, it doesn't matter.

It's not like they'll be traveling together for much longer anyway. Eizo said that they're nearly at the Land of Earth, and the village is only a few days' travel from there. Everything will be back to normal soon.

Giving the lizard an absent pat on the head, Nao catches one of the merchants staring at them again and huffs.

"Ignore them," Eizo says from beside her, long coat fluttering in the slight breeze.

"Dunno why they're still at it, is all," she replies, watching in irritation as the flustered woman breaks eye contact. "They'd stopped for a while, before." And that's true. The merchants had pretty much ceased looking at them like they're some sort of intruders, but after the… incident, they'd started up again. Only worse, if that's even possible.

"They're scared."

Nao scoffs. "Of what? They think I'm gonna curse 'em in their sleep or somethin'? Sadly the magic of my dress sense doesn't extend to voodoo."

"Of me," he continues, ignoring her comment, "and you by extension."

Biting her lip, Nao contemplates his words. It kind of makes sense, if you tilt your head and squint. It's not like she's done anything to show that she's even remotely dangerous, but in a world where looks can be deceiving and people lie as easily as breathing, she guesses it makes sense that they'd be wary of a random kid traveling with a…

A something.

"How's your fuinjutsu coming along?" Eizo says, voice light and airy.

Nao takes it for the change in subject for what it is. "Dunno. I've got an idea for what this could be," she says, taking her notebook out of her bag and flipping to the page with the matrix in it, "but I don't know if I'm right. Doubt it, really."

Eizo hums, eyebrows raising at the scribbled 'notes' on the next page. "Why don't you tell me what you think, and I'll tell you if you're correct."

Nao rolls her eyes. "Well, at first I thought it was a storage seal, but then I nicked this," she starts, pulling out the scroll she _borrowed_ from Eizo. "And they're kinda similar, but not really, yanno? An' then I saw these," she points to a few 'words', "and that jus' confused me even more. So now all I'm sure of is it has somethin' to do with chakra. Got no clue what that is, though," she says, pointing to the spiral in the middle of the seal. "Can't find anythin' like it in my notes."

Eizo nods along, staying silent until she's finished with her quick rundown. It doesn't sound like much when condensed like this, but just deciphering the spiralling lines had been a pain in the ass, and with Hina distracting her every day it'd taken weeks. "That's because I didn't tell you about that yet. You've done better than I expected, in any case."

Pushing down the irrational feeling of pride — it's not like it'd been hard or anything, and she hadn't even gotten it right! — Nao looks around to make sure Hina is still occupied elsewhere. "What is it, then?"

"Have you thought anything about it strange?"

Frowning at his blatant disregard for her question, Nao's about to repeat herself before she stops to think about it. "Like how it looks wrong?" He quirks a brow. "That depends on what you mean."

"You know, _wrong!_" she growls in frustration. "Like it's not supposed to work. It seems fine on its own, then I look at the other scroll an'… I don't know, it looks wrong."

Eizo's lip quirks into a half-smile, and it catches her so off guard she almost forgets that she's annoyed at him. "Well, considering that it's not finished, that makes sense."

"Alright, 'nough of your wishy-washy bullshit. What did ya give me?" Nao huffs, elbowing him in the side for good measure. Most of the time his cryptic and cagey nature doesn't bother her, and sometimes it can even make for some hilarious situations, but right now she's just about had it. She'd be lying if she said this hadn't been on her mind since they left the last village, and now she just wants a straight answer.

Thankfully, he seems to get the message. "You were close in the storage line of thinking, only it's a chakra storage seal and not an ordinary one. Or more specifically, it's a chakra storage seal _component_ and is meant to be used in a larger seal. If you wanted it to work on its own there is a way to do that, but there wouldn't really be a point."

"Why not?" Nao asks, looking up at him in confusion.

"Because it's designed to dispense chakra into the seal it's attached to, and on its own the chakra would have nowhere to go. It would disperse into the air and be wasted."

Nao nods along, accepting the explanation easily. It would be annoying to put chakra into a seal just for it to — literally — vanish into thin air. "What's that mean, then?" she asks, once again gesturing to the swirling spiral in the middle of the seal. "You never told me what it is."

"That," he says after a long stretch of silence, "is a trade secret." Nao's brows pinch together in annoyance and she goes to elbow him again, but he expertly moves out of the way, continuing on as if nothing had happened. "That's not to say I won't teach you, only that you must never teach it to anyone else, or even give them access to a seal with it," Eizo says, and even though his tone hasn't changed Nao can still feel the weight of his words.

"Yeah, okay, sure," she says, waving him off. If he wants her to be all secretive then that's fine, a master craftsman should always keep the best tricks of the trade for themselves, after all. Even while hoarding the best seals for herself, Nao's sure that she can make enough cash selling even the most basic storage scrolls for money to never be a problem anyway. "Spill the beans."

For a while all he does is peer down at her, and she has no idea what's going on in that thick skull of his, but after a few seconds she worries that he's about to ask her to do something stupid.

Like 'promise'.

He eventually comes to the conclusion that it would be pointless, though, — the correct decision, considering promises are all too easily broken — and gives a short nod. "It's called Marui, and it's meant to be kept within the family, so I'll only explain it once."

.

Eizo ended up explaining it twice, because Nao was so shocked at the implications of what he said that the information flowed in one ear and out the other.

* * *

When they arrive at their destination, the gates of a large trading village, Nao breathes a sigh of relief.

Avoiding Hina has become more difficult by the day, and if it weren't for Haru trying to distract her whenever she gets too close Nao's sure she wouldn't have been half as successful at it. Taishi is by the gate up front talking to someone from the village for what are very important reasons, Nao's sure, and Eizo is off talking to another man from the village in hushed voices to the side, so Nao takes the time to look around.

They're not far enough into the Land of Earth for the terrain to be vastly different, but the plant life has been becoming more and more sparse over the last few days and if the trend continues she can easily see it becoming yet another dry wasteland.

Nao loves the fact that she's outside of Kiso, she really does, but if Eizo insists on traveling in anymore dry, dusty countries she's going to revolt.

Hearing the lack of voices (can you hear the lack of something?) to her left, Nao looks over to see Eizo standing alone, the man he was talking to ducking into the station by the gate. Eizo's not moving, though, and appears to be waiting for him to return, which is weird.

Nao can see the thick-papered storage scroll in his hand, and when the man returns he hands it over in exchange for—

"Hikaru! You weren't going to leave without saying goodbye, were you?"

She hears Hina's yelling mere milliseconds before she bounces in front of her, waving a hand in front of Nao's face and obscuring her vision of the exchange. Nao pushes her hand down and moves her head to the side to see around her, but by the time she sees Eizo again he's shoving something into his pocket and the man is saying something to him.

"Oi, are you going to say somethi—" slapping a hand over Hina's mouth to muffle her screeching, Nao strains her ears to hear what he's saying but only manages to tune in to the ending farewells, the man turning to leave and Eizo moving to talk to Taishi.

Dropping her hand, Nao glares at Hina. "You're like a flea infestation, every time I think I've gotten rid of ya you come back even worse than before."

Used to her scalding remarks by now, all Hina does is grin. "And you're like a cat! Wanting attention but scratching anyone who gets close."

Nao raises a brow. "How long did it take ya to come up with that one?"

"I've had a lot of time to think since last time we talked!" Hina says with pride, puffing up her chest. "… And I asked nii-san for help."

Nao snorts.

"Hina, get over here! We all have to sign in," Haru calls out from the gate, and they both glance over to see the carts finally beginning to move forward, entering the village.

Hina's face crumbles before she plasters on a smile, so blatantly forced that it's a borderline grimace. "I guess I've got to go, huh?"

"Yeah," Nao replies, not really knowing what else to say.

"Don't forget me, okay? We'll have to see each other again, I want to see how big Uroko grows up to be!"

Nao stares, baffled as to what she means, until the lizard pokes his head out of her shirt and flicks his tongue at her. Her eyebrows rise in realisation, but she thinks better of bringing up the nickname.

Registering the first part of what she'd said, Nao shifts uncomfortably and grunts something that could be taken as agreement. It's not like Nao _wants_ to forget her or anything, but memories fade with time and no amount of clutching the hourglass will make the sand stop falling.

She knows from experience.

So she gives a small smile and grits her teeth when Hina gives her a brief, smothering hug before bounding off to the gate.

Nao watches her go and feels an ache in her chest, which is ridiculous.

It's not like they were friends

* * *

**Now betaed by Sengachi! From this chapter onwards, hopefully**

**As for the notice, I will be taking a week break from updating! This is because I will be participating in both Camp NaNo and Acrylic April, and I don't want to burn out.**

**Just to reiterate, next update on 18th of April!**

**Thank you for your understanding! I don't want to push it back but my sanity comes first.**


	13. The Show Must Go On

Kicking her legs back and forth while perched atop her favourite alley wall, Nao tilts her head back to look up at the sky.

It's a clear night — not a cloud in sight, a slight breeze causing her hair to tickle her ears — and she can see all of the small lights spanning as far as the eye can see. Some stars are larger than others, some brighter, but each of them twinkle and glimmer and are no less entrancing.

The moon is full tonight, looking so big that Nao is tempted to reach her hand up to try and touch it, but the last time she tried she nearly fell off the wall.

There's a _crack_ as someone tries to climb the wall behind her and some of the old crumbling brick falls away, and after a few seconds Nao feels Hiroshi sit down next to her.

She doesn't have to check to know that he didn't manage to snag any food from the market. He would have given it to her by now if he had.

"You know," he says, and Nao turns to peer at him through her bangs. They're getting a bit long, but every time she thinks to ask him to cut them he's busy. "Some people believe that when someone dies they turn into a star."

"Do they?" she asks, curious.

He smiles down at her, sea-foam green eyes glittering with an emotion she doesn't quite understand. "I don't know, but it's a nice thought, isn't it?"

She nods and turns to look back at the sky, then asks him to show her the constellations again.

* * *

Scribbling a few 'notes' in the margin of her notebook, Nao sticks the pencil in her mouth to reach down into her pant pocket. Fumbling with the paper briefly before unsealing a small bundle of roots, Nao takes two out, lifting one up to give to the lizard sitting on top of her head and sticking the other in her mouth.

Chewing idly, she jots down a few more 'words' to finish the last string in the seal. "What about that?" Nao asks, jabbing the notebook in Eizo's general direction.

Once he's taken it she drops her hands and takes a deep breath— only to burst into a fit of coughs, the dry dust in the air clinging to her throat and sucking the moisture out of her mouth. Shoving her hand into her other pocket, this time she has to fiddle with it for considerably more time before there's a _poof _and she feels the smooth metal of her water canteen.

Taking it out and unscrewing the cap, Nao gently swings it from side to side and listens to the _swish_ of water — already half empty, damn it — before draining the rest of it. Nao thrusts that in Eizo's direction too, figuring if it's his fault she's here he may as well make sure she doesn't die of thirst.

And she will die at this rate. The Land of Earth had been more than enough — far larger than she had anticipated and mostly flat, packed dirt, baked mud and an unrelenting sun — but this is ridiculous. Why on earth he decided to go straight from that shit hole to an objectively worse one is beyond her— they could have gone somewhere called the_ Land of Wheat Fields_ for god's sake!

Or, well, maybe they could have. If the map wasn't wrong again.

Nao first noticed the inaccuracies of the map when they entered what was supposed to be the Land of Grass. When they came across another village, however, it turned out they were still in the Land of Earth, even though the scenery was _very_ much grass.

This could have been explained away by them having taken a wrong turn or thinking they'd gone further than they actually had — which is more than believable, considering they've been using the map as more of a vague suggestion of direction than anything concrete, and if that doesn't summarise the whole trip so far then she doesn't know what does — but Eizo didn't seem too bothered. Didn't even change their course, simply continued in the same direction they'd been traveling in for the last few days.

When she asked about it Eizo had waved the question off, doing his version of a shrug and saying the map is just old. That made her look at it a little more critically; she'd never really cared to notice before, but it looks as old as Eizo himself — so a hundred years old _at least_ — and she wonders when exactly he'd gotten it.

Now, several smaller countries later, they're closer to the Land of Wind than Earth, but you wouldn't be able to tell by the climate. It's the direct opposite of windy, all stagnant air and dust so thick at some points it's hard to see, and while there's more plant life than in Earth most of it looks dead.

"So?" Nao prompts, lightly jabbing her elbow into Eizo's side.

He hums. "You can try it with the ink when we stop next."

"But will it work?" she asks, taking the now-full canteen when he offers it.

All he does is shrug, the bastard.

Nao debates taking another drink, but ultimately screws the cap back on and puts it in her pocket, sealing it away again after a bit of fuss. It would be far easier if the storage seals were sewn into her clothing like Eizo's, but when she inquired about it he'd said she'd need to sew it herself, so she hadn't asked about it again.

There would be little point with the size seals she can make at the moment anyway. They're only big enough for some food and water, barely larger than the size of her pockets themselves. The only reason she uses the scrolls at all is that Eizo said it would help her chakra stores get bigger.

(Well, that and the fact they're kind of cool.)

Taking her notebook back from him, she stares down at the seal she'd drawn up and worked on for the last week, finger tracing the symbol for _ignite_ in the center. It looks fine to her, but so have the last three iterations of it and they all blew up in her face. Once literally.

Which is kind of the point, she supposes, but it was _meant _to do it five seconds later, after she'd gotten a safe distance away. Not that it's especially dangerous or anything, all it had done is singe her eyebrows some and scared the pants off the lizard, but the fact it hadn't fully worked as intended was the frustrating part.

She can't say she isn't learning a lot, though. While Eizo isn't exactly forthcoming with information Nao's learnt that if she asks the right questions in the right way he's more than not willing to lend a hand, as long as she does most of the heavy lifting herself.

Learning to make the small storage scrolls in her pockets had been one of the hardest things she's ever done, having practically started from scratch. Eizo had only allowed her a few minutes worth of study of his pre-made seals before giving her another base seal and insisting she design one of her own.

"_It's like learning to swim,"_ he'd said, _"Enough floundering in the deep end and you get the hang of it."_

Nao hadn't bothered telling him that she doesn't know how to swim because if he didn't already know that she'll eat her own arm. So instead she went along with it — even if the reasoning sounded flawed — with her usual amount of complaining, secretly relishing the challenge.

And she had gotten it in the end. After nearly two months of treading water she'd started to see the patterns, noticing the hints hidden in Eizo's seemingly worthless advice and made real progress.

She'd never felt anything like the first time she sent a spark of chakra into a scroll still wet with the ink of clumsy symbols and seen it dry before her eyes. It had cemented a resolve she hadn't even realised she possessed in the first place. All she'd been able to do was stare down at it. Stare and pick it up to make sure it was real, that she'd made something herself, that she'd been _successful._

Nao remembers turning to Eizo and seeing him with a small smile on his face, a stick held in an outstretched hand so she could test it out.

She's never been more satisfied than she was when she watched the small piece of wood vanish in a puff of smoke.

Absently giving the lizard another root, Nao sees Eizo's head turn in the corner of her vision and looks over; watching as sharp eyes comb their surroundings before settling on something in the distance.

He abruptly turns to the right and Nao turns with him, all too aware of the fact that he hasn't asked her to look at the compass since yesterday morning.

She thinks about asking him where they're going but finds that she doesn't care.

She'd stick with him no matter the answer.

* * *

That night she sets the freshly-made, low-grade explosive tag on a dead tree and hurries over to Eizo's side, counting down from five in her head.

When she reaches zero it crackles and pops, setting itself alight and consuming the paper in a bright flash of orange fire.

And when she turns to face him Eizo is wearing the same small smile.

* * *

When they arrive at their destination it's raining so heavily that it's hard to see, the weather having taken a sharp turn for the worse once they crossed another border.

Nao manages to catch a glimpse of a layered roof, large wooden frame and cobblestone walls before Eizo is ushering her through a gate and up the path, holding open one of the large double doors while she slips inside.

Rubbing her hands together, Nao shivers even as she's enveloped in air so warm it momentarily burns her exposed skin. Water drips from her hair and clothes to make a small puddle beneath her feet on the wooden floor, a muddy trail between her and the door, and she hears Eizo take his shoes off after he enters.

The puddle under his feet is a lot smaller, his coat having protected him from most of the water. He'd offered it to her when it first started raining but Nao had refused. It's not so bad, really, and it's preferable to the dust and humidity, the cold rain coming as a relief as it washed away dirt and sweat.

Even so, her next project is definitely going to be the waterproofing seal.

There's a muffled crash and Nao's head snaps to the side in time to see a thin paper door slide open. A tall, thin woman — who can't be much older than twenty — with dark skin a few shades lighter than Nao's and long, brown locks tied back in a messy bun appears, her head poking around the door before coming out. Her eyes widen when she sees them and she brushes her hands off on her sunshine-yellow apron absently. When she speaks it's in an unfamiliar accent, sort of like the drawl spoken in the last town they'd come across only with the slight lilt Nao remembers hearing in the Land of Frost.

"We weren't expecting visitors today, considering the weather and all," she mutters, eyes flicking to the window and the rain pelting against it in a rapid _patatata._ The woman's brow creases and she bites her lip in worry, undoubtedly thinking about the possibility of lightning. "Oh, where are my manners!" she exclaims, looking over at them and wringing her hands together in front of her. "You both must be freezing, let me grab you some towels."

Spinning on her heel and ducking back through the door, she leaves as suddenly as she appeared, leaving Nao stunned and wondering what just happened. She looks over to Eizo but he offers no explanation, only hanging his coat on the hook by the door, so she resigns herself to waiting.

It only takes a minute for the woman to appear again, two of the largest and softest towels Nao's ever seen held in her arms. They're bright white, reminding her of fluffy clouds drifting in the sky on a sunny day, and when the woman offers one to her all she does is stare down at it.

Eizo clears his throat next to her and Nao blinks. She picks up the towel in both her hands, watching Eizo as he takes the other one when offered and begins drying his hair. Soon dirt smudges onto the cotton, turning the pure white to a muddy brown, and Nao thinks it a shame.

Startled at the thought and not knowing where it came from, she follows Eizo's lead, drying off her hair while being careful not to disturb the lizard too much. He always sleeps more when it's cold and she expects he'll wake up soon once the warm air heats him up a little, but Nao makes sure not to jostle the shoulder he's on anyway.

When she's done she wraps the towel around herself, savouring the soft warmth.

"Is Fumihiro-san in?" Eizo asks once he's finished drying his hair.

"I'll let him know you're here," the woman answers, moving towards another sliding door to the right and slipping through it without a sound. Nao watches her go in bewilderment.

"Will you be okay staying here for a while if I leave to go and talk to him? I shouldn't be gone long."

"Why wouldn't I be?" she asks, watching him from the corner of her eye.

Before he can answer the woman returns, a man following behind her. He's wearing a long flowing robe, has thinning salt-and-pepper hair and the crow's feet by his eyes speaking of days spent laughing, but despite his jovial appearance he holds himself in a way that commands attention.

"Try not to cause too much trouble," Eizo says. He hands the woman his towel and nods in thanks, before passing by her to leave with the man. She watches him go, staring at the door after he's out of sight.

"Would you like some tea?"

Nao jerks her head to the side, and the woman gives her a warm smile that reveals a dimple on her right cheek. "Sure," Nao replies gruffly, following her when the woman heads towards the door she'd first appeared from.

"My name is Aiko Suzuki," she says, dropping the towel into a hamper by the door and walking towards the small kitchenette on one side of the room. As she crouches down to open one of the cupboard doors Nao shifts to look around the room, knowing Aiko meant it as a lead on for her to reply with her own name but not caring.

Nao sits down at the small round table in the corner of the room and kicks her feet up, watching as Aiko fills a kettle and puts it on the stove. When she turns around she doesn't so much as blink at seeing Nao's feet on the table, simply gliding over to the sink to start washing the small pile of dirty dishes.

Nao puts her feet on the floor.

There's no clock in sight but Nao swears she can hear the seconds tick by, each one dragging on so slowly it's painful. She finds herself bouncing her leg while waiting, listening to the sound of rain against the roof and Aiko's faint humming and trying to look anywhere but at her while she dries the now-clean dishes.

When the kettle lets out a high pitched whistle — that sounds a lot more like a pig screaming before slaughter — the lizard shifts, poking his head out of her shirt and blinking lazily. She pulls the collar of her shirt to the side and he stretches before climbing out.

He's grown a fair amount over the last few months, and now needs a bit of a boost to get on her head if she doesn't want a premature asymmetric hair cut. Nao's not too worried though, his growth has slowed down considerably in the past couple weeks and she doubts he'll get much bigger. His appetite is no longer the insatiable thing it once was, at least.

"Do you have a preference on tea?" Aiko asks, smile faltering only briefly upon seeing the lizard perched atop her head.

"Dunno," Nao says, ignoring the reaction. "What types have ya got?"

"Only two, I'm afraid," she says, somehow managing to sound genuinely remorseful about the lack of diverse options. "I'm partial to the sencha myself, but we also have oolong."

Nao's never heard of either of them and thus has no opinion, but they both sound fancy and expensive, so she puts her head in her palm and says "I'll have both," daring the woman to protest.

Aiko doesn't miss a beat, already turning to grab three cups from an overhead cupboard. "In seperate mugs?"

"No, the same one."

She puts one of the cups back in the cupboard.

Nao watches intently as she grabs three spoonfuls of tea leaves, two from the green box and one from the black, and places them in the mugs. "Sugar?"

"Sure."

The water is poured, steam curling in the air, and a teaspoon of sugar is stirred into the cup on the right, the metal of the spoon clinking against the green ceramic.

Once it's sufficiently steeped and the tealeaves discarded, Aiko picks up both of the mugs, sliding into the chair opposite Nao and placing the green mug in front of her. Nao reaches forward to grip it with the hand not holding her head up, letting the warmth seep into her skin and chase away the last of the rain's chill. She makes no move to drink it.

They sit in silence for a while, Aiko taking several sips of her own tea, and once Nao gets sick of listening to the ticking of the clock she breaks it. "Who's the old dude, anyway?"

_That_ earns her a reaction, eyebrows pinching and lips curling into a sharp frown. It lasts for a full three seconds before Aiko visibly smooths out her features, the 'patient' smile she replaces it with fickle and not quite reaching her eyes. "Fumihiro-_sama_ runs this place, he keeps it going. I help him in any way I can of course, but he does most of the work."

Her tone is both defensive and awed in equal measure, and Nao knows she's struck gold.

"Yeah? I reckon it can't be _that_ hard."

Sitting up straight in her chair and squaring her shoulders, Aiko looks absolutely gobsmacked, like what she'd said was pure heresy. "I'll have you know it's a big job! The gardens need tending, the house taken care of, even getting supplies like the tea you're drinking is difficult. The nearest village is quite a ways away and we have to make the trek once every two months. Not to mention that the actual work itself must be incredibly tiring. Listening to everyone's problems without passing judgement… I don't know how he does it," Aiko trails off, looking down at her half-empty mug with a slight furrow in her brow.

That catches Nao's interest. She'd sort of just assumed they were here for the same reason as always; to offer their 'assistance' with some odd jobs and leave, but maybe not. It doesn't usually take Eizo this long to get the list of stuff to do, anyway.

"What does he ask in return for, uh, 'listening'?" Nao asks, half wanting to ask what exactly she means by 'listening to everyone's problems' but not wanting to push her luck. Adults can be weird about answering questions sometimes.

"Nothing, the only thing he asks for is honesty," Aiko replies, looking up from her drink.

Nao nods, both surprised and not surprised at all at the answer. If Eizo is insane enough to do things for free, surely there are other people out there who are just as off their rocker.

A few seconds of awkward silence passes, and Nao half expects the woman to leave but she doesn't, so she decides to keep needling.

"Well, he sounds like a prick to me," she says, holding back from laughing at the affronted look on Aiko's face. "Thinkin' he's entitled to know everythin' about everyone, who gave him the right?"

The woman's eyes go stoney, mouth opening and closing a few times, clearly wanting to say something but holding herself back. Eyes narrowing, she stands abruptly — the chair screeching from being pushed across the wooden floor — and moves to grab the mop leaning against a wall. Opening the sliding door, she doesn't bother to close it behind her and storms towards the entrance, probably to clean the mud on the floor.

Nao watches her go with smug satisfaction.

Once she's out of the room the ticking stops and a weight is lifted, the electrical charge in the air dissipating. Looking down at the mug of tea in her hands, she takes a deep breath through her nose, smelling the too-sweet scent and wrinkling her nose. Separately they would have been fine, pleasant even, but together the smells clash horribly and become sickly and cloying. Nao debates dumping it down the sink, but the warmth is nice, so she curls her other hand around it as well and leaves it.

Tracing the wood grain of the table with her eyes, she tries to think about how to start on the waterproofing seal while waiting for Eizo to be finished with whatever he's doing. She could take her notebook out of her bag to jot down some notes but she can't really muster up the energy, so she leaves it.

It doesn't take long for voices to start echoing through the paper-thin walls, a half hour at most, and though she can't make out what they're saying she can hear Eizo's rumbling tone. Standing from the chair slowly so that the lizard doesn't fall off her head, Nao pads over to the door, leaving the full mug of now-cold tea behind.

By the time she enters the main room Eizo and the man are also there, approaching the front door and talking in hushed tones. Aiko is nowhere to be seen.

"It's been a pleasure seeing you again," he — Fumihiro — says, clasping Eizo's hand in both of his. He's a whole head shorter than Eizo but somehow manages to look him in the eye without seeming like a child looking up at an adult, a feat Nao is a little jealous of.

"And you," Eizo replies, breaking away. "I hope our paths will cross again in the future."

Nao moves towards the front door, and upon seeing her approaching Fumihiro sends her a warm smile before turning back to Eizo. "I'm sure we will. Until then I wish you the best of luck."

She sees Eizo nod in reply from the corner of her eye but doesn't stay to see if they're done, instead opening the door and stepping outside into the fresh air.

The rain had stopped without her noticing sometime between entering and exiting, but the dark grey clouds still swirl overhead and promise more rain later in the evening. This has got to be one of her favourite times; when there's the smell of fresh wet earth and a certain dampness hangs in the air that winter can never quite achieve. Part of her wishes it could be like this forever.

Life goes on, however, and the weather doesn't care about what she wants.

She hears the door open and close behind her, finding Eizo next to her when she glances over. He doesn't say anything so she doesn't either, simply following him down the stone path when he starts walking.

Hopefully they can find somewhere dry to sleep before it starts raining again. 

* * *

**The next update is going to also be in three weeks! I'm very sorry, but like, life is kind of awful right now. I need to keep my sanity intact  
I hope you're all staying safe out there, and wash your hands**


	14. Teach a Kid to Fish

Pulling her hood lower to protect her eyes better, Nao shuffles further into the corner to try and get as far into the shade as she can.

The desert sun is relentless, however, and she is once again thankful for the new clothes — and actual map, so they don't get lost in the desert — Eizo bought before entering the Land of Wind. The cotton is kind of itchy and so loose that it feels more like she's wearing a blanket than clothes, but it's undoubtable that it's helped with the scorching heat, so she leaves it be.

She did take the boots off when she sat down though. Just because they help prevent blisters and keep your skin from burning off in the hot sand that doesn't mean they're _comfortable._

Looking back down at her notebook she adds a top hat to one of the lizards she drew in the margin and gives him a monocle. Then she frowns at it and tries to think of where she'd seen the accessories before, and upon realising she has no idea she scribbles it out.

The lizard that has been her muse for this afternoon's doodle session is sat upon her knee soaking up the rays that slip through the slatted roof-overhang-thing. Honestly she has no idea what it's called, pretty much all of the buildings in the Land of Wind are made of things she's never seen before, both style and material wise. The roofs are flat instead of slanted and the walls are made of some sort of smooth dried white clay instead of wood, brick or stone; there are low walls and alleyways galore and nooks to hide in and she _loves it._

Everything is so pretty and unique that the Land of Wind replaced the Land of Plains on her "favourite places" list as soon as they entered the first village- which is quite the feat considering it feels like they've been pretty much everywhere except the Land of Fire and Water at this point.

Currently Nao has stuffed herself into one of the many nooks between a wall and a not-roof that has a clear view of the street below. She can clearly see the villagers go about their days but if they wanted to see her they'd have to specifically look upwards, which not-very-surprisingly no one does. People don't typically think to look up unless they hear something, so Nao has gotten very good at being quiet over the last few years.

People watching has always been fascinating — especially when people don't know they are being watched — and since leaving Kiso it's become even more so. The different clothing styles, hair styles, hair _colours,_ tattoos, and even skin tones are all things that catch her attention. In Kiso everything had been relatively samey. Either dark brown or black hair, caramel skin, boring clothes, heck, even eye colour was mostly the same boring brown. Hiroshi's green was something of a marvel.

Now, however, Nao feels as if she's seen people have everything under the sun for their hair and eye colour. Blonde, green, purple, blue, once she even saw someone with _pink_ hair! Not to mention the clothes; even out here in the desert people are sporting fanciful vibrant shades with eye-catching patterns on elaborately made flowing clothing.

While she can appreciate all of the exciting and bright colours from afar, she is rather glad to be wearing plain beige and white clothes at the moment. Looking like a peacock showing off their feathers is best reserved for other people, in her opinion.

Leaning forward to peer down at the street, Nao looks from side to side to see if Eizo's returned yet. He hasn't. Frowning, Nao stretches as much as she can without hitting her head on the 'roof' and leans back, eyes lazily scanning pedestrians going about their days.

It's been a few hours since Eizo left to do the Chump Chores™ and even though Nao's grateful for the rare break from them, it's still boring to sit around and do nothing. While he's off fixing a well and doing whatever other crap is too hard for her to help with she's been slowly driving herself insane. The village itself is absurdly tiny, Nao estimates ninety residents total, and she'd explored all of it within the first ten minutes.

So she's been holing herself up in rafters and atop walls until her limps cramp and then moving onto the next one, idly writing notes, doodling and people watching all the while. It's mindless and mind-numbing and even though she used to do far less during her down time at Kiso she can't stand it.

At least she found out what the date is while wandering around, though. She accidentally eavesdropped on an old married couple walking by — old habits die hard — and now knows far more about their mundane lives than she ever needed to.

"_Did you visit Yamu yesterday? You know how she gets when you forget!"_

_"Yesterday was Friday, dear, I visit on Sundays."_

It went on.

"_But she told you to switch to Fridays this month, remember? Her son is doing the apprenticeship at the bakery and she's going to take up another shift at work with her new spare time."_

And on.

"_Ren started that last month, it's February now-"_

_And __**on**_ with words being spoken but nothing said until Nao turned tail and slipped down an alley just to get away from the incessant back and forth.

At least she found out what month they're in, but it almost wasn't worth it.

Only almost, though, because it's February. Which means she's been on the road with Eizo for twelve months. And twelve months is a year.

And she doesn't really know what to do with that information, but it feels important somehow. It tugs at her in a way she both doesn't like and doesn't understand and so she hoards the information away_ just in case _before banishing it into the recesses of her mind.

Hearing squeals of delight below, Nao stops staring at the middle ground between her and a building across the street to refocus on the people walking by, only to find a group of three children instead.

Two look to be around Hina's age while the other is clearly older, being twelve at least. The two youngest — clearly twins now that she gets a better look at them, one boy and one girl — are chasing each other around the street, ducking and weaving around the few adults wandering around while the older one watches. The streets aren't especially large, but there's still plenty of space for the two children to play, so it baffles her that they'd choose to continuously dart around people as if a part of the game is to get as close as possible.

Nao watches as the two blondes narrowly avoid running into both the adults and the other kid over and over. Just as she's about to go back to doodling in her book the boy collides with a woman's leg, sending him spiralling to the ground and causing the woman to stumble.

Her breath catches in her throat and muscles tense when the boy makes no move to get up, staying on the floor in shock. The woman recovers faster and turns towards the boy just as the other two kids get there.

Nao waits for the yelling, the reprimanding, the _anything_, but all the woman does is look concerned and say something she can't hear. The boy hears it, though, and bursts into a fit of tears so dramatically Nao can't help but be a little impressed. The other boy helps him up and looks at his palms, which Nao's sure must be scratched raw from the gravel street. The woman says something else, still looking concerned, and when the older boy nods she continues down the street, looking back a couple times in worry.

"Hey."

Glancing down at Eizo, Nao's not surprised in the slightest that he managed to get directly below her without her noticing, having gotten used to him moving silently long ago. The new clothes haven't changed a thing about _that._

She's up so high that he has to crane his neck to look up at her and she quite likes being the 'tall' one. Nao's still too short for her age, she knows that, but she hopes that she'll grow taller and catch up during her next growth spurt. For now this is the best she can do.

"I'm done for today. If you come down I've got a few things for you," he says, holding up a small canvas bag, but Nao's staring at the paper one in his other hand.

"What's that?" she asks, gesturing to it. She can smell it from here and it has her mouth watering.

"I grabbed some food on the way here. Figured you might appreciate something substantial for once."

Grinning, Nao moves the lizard to her shoulder and flips around, putting her hands on the ledge and moving until she's only just holding herself up before finally dropping to the ground.

Turning back towards Eizo she dusts her hands off on her pants and flashes a predatory smile. "You shoulda said so sooner. What 'ave ya got?" Reaching a hand out to grab the bag, she slouches and her smile drops when he moves it further away.

"I saw a nice place to sit and eat, you can look at what I got you while we walk." Nao grumbles and frowns down at the paper bag again, hoping that the food will float out if she just stares at it enough. Eizo rolls his eyes. "We can get some dango on the way if you like."

Perking up instantly, Nao grabs the canvas bag when he offers it and charges ahead towards where she remembers the dango stand being, knowing Eizo will catch up with no effort.

When she opens the bag later she finds a new leather-bound notebook, an inkwell, a set of calligraphy brushes and a small picture book on constellations.

She doesn't say thank you, but suspects he knows all the same.

* * *

Leaving the Land of Wind is sad but also horribly anticlimactic.

Nao didn't expect to enjoy it as much as she did. It was the most enjoyable country so far, from the architecture to the cool temperatures at night and even the food. They stocked up at villages for the most part, there being little to no food outside of farms, and wandering the markets to gawk at the foreign foods was fun. Most of the vegetables were tough roots with very little leafy greens, but the fruits came in all shapes and sizes.

Large green ones with a thick skin, spiky yellow ones that will make you bleed if you're not careful and small red ones that are sort of like berries but with more seeds— she often pocketed a few of the latter while wandering around or while Eizo haggled. It'd been a while since she used _that_ particular skill and she's gotten a bit rusty; she's sure one of the stall owners noticed her, but all he did was smile so she can't know for sure.

Now that they've officially left the border of the Land of Wind the charm has vanished. All that's left is scrappy plants and sand that's getting mixed with dirt and progressively coarser the longer they walk. The fine sand of the desert wasn't that bad but now it's starting to hurt when it gets stuck in her boots.

Just another reason she hates shoes.

It's still too hot to take them off, however, no matter how much she despises them. It's like the land is stuck in an awkward middle stage between wanting lush plant life and the sun killing anything that dares poke above the surface.

Thankfully the tug-of-war sorts itself out within a couple days of travel, and even better is the fact the plant life _wins_.

The sun stops being a deadly laser enough for both the plants to start thriving and Nao to be able to ditch her boots (at Eizo's head, no less) and the ground becomes mostly grass with patches of exposed dirt. The plants climb higher and higher and fill out with leaves until they're honest to god trees again, the bushes becoming denser and more than just a bundle of dead sticks held together with the memory of water eons past.

The terrain becomes more and more green, filled with more birds chirping, insects buzzing and rustling of animals running through the underbrush until it becomes a forest between her blinks.

When Nao realises she stops dead in her tracks, looking around in wonder as if seeing it for the first time. She really _notices_ the trees, the grass and ferns and greenery everywhere. She _hears_ the birds singing, insects buzzing and animals running through the underbrush. She takes a deep breath and _smells_ the wet-earth and distinctly _fresh_ scent that comes with new growth, taking it all in, and lets it out with a sigh of contentment. The sun has just started to set, casting an orange glow across the sky. Nao is by no means a poetic or sappy person, but even she can't deny that it's a lovely sight.

Or maybe she's simply jaded; seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses because this is what she's been wanting to see since she first got the picture book weighing heavily in her bag.

Turning to look back at Eizo — who stopped a few paces in front of her — she finds him waiting patiently with a small smile on his face. After a few seconds of confused staring, Nao realises that she's also smiling a little too widely to be natural and coughs into her closed fist, looking away.

Fortunately Eizo doesn't say anything, merely continuing down the path, setting a slow pace until she catches up.

Neither of them talk, it doesn't feel appropriate. It's one of the rare times that Nao is content to walk in silence, and Eizo's still not very talkative, only continuing a conversation if she initiates it, but it hardly ever feels awkward anymore so she doesn't mind.

After a half hour of walking Nao starts to hear the muffled sound of running water, and only ten minutes later it gets loud enough that she knows it's a stream somewhere to their left. The possibility of having fresh fish for the first time in _forever_ makes her excited enough to once again stop dead in her tracks. This time Eizo stops almost immediately after she does, as if anticipating her reaction, and their stare-off is a lot more charged.

Nao is still the more stubborn one out of the two of them, though, and Eizo breaks eye contact first.

"Fine," he says, turning towards the sound of the noise and looking for a way through the dense underbrush, "but you've got to at least try and catch your own this time."

"But I don't even know _how,_" Nao huffs, following along when he moves ahead towards a particularly thin patch of ferns.

"You know what they say about learning," he says absently, holding some of the larger leaves aside for her to walk through, "there's no time like the present."

Ducking under his arm and walking towards the pebbly bank of the river, she mutters "no one says that," under her breath just loud enough that he can hear. He ignores her comment, like he's done for most of her previous ones.

The sun still hasn't quite fully dipped below the horizon, and there's enough sunlight to see through the crystalline water and down to the rocks below. Dark, silvery shapes swim below the surface, occasionally coming up to feed on the mosquitoes flying particularly low.

It's now that Nao realises she's never actually _seen_ Eizo fish before. The only way she knows about is with a fishing rod, but somehow she doubts even he can manage to magic a whole ass fishing rod out of his ridiculous pockets.

Spinning around to ask him just that, she finds him already holding two relatively straight branches. He pulls out his knife from behind his back and sharpens the ends with a few quick strokes, spinning them around to make sure the end is vaguely a sharp cone shape and putting his knife away, turning to offer her one.

Dumbfounded, Nao takes it into her own hands and holds it awkwardly, staring down at it. The branch is long enough to come up to her shoulder when standing straight but doesn't weigh as much as she'd imagined it would.

"What am I supposed to do with this, exactly?" she asks, looking over to where Eizo is taking off his shoes and hiking his pants up to his knees.

"Spear the fish," he replies, which only serves to make her more confused. She knows better than to expect a more detailed answer, though, and just watches as he throws his jacket onto the bank, wades into the water, then stands atop a small, particularly shallow bit in the middle.

At first the fish dart away from him, as they rightfully should, but after standing still for a few minutes they slowly start creeping back towards the middle, not keen on staying in the shallow edges for too long.

Eizo then holds up the makeshift spear, angling it towards the water, and half-throws-half-thrusts it into the water.

At first she thinks he missed, but when he brings it out of the water a flopping fish is on the other end, cleanly speared through the head. He rips it off and turns to gently toss it onto the shore, where it gives a few more pathetic flops before going still.

Nao stares on in shock before blinking owlishly up at him. He gestures to the spot next to him and Nao huffs, hiking up her own pants to prevent them getting wet, throws her bag next to Eizo's jacket, and begins to wade into the water, never one to back down from a challenge.

"So what, I just do it?" She risks one last question, peering at him from the corner of her eye, but all he does is look down at the fish in front of him and ignore her. Typical.

Looking down at the fish that are in front of her, Nao waits until they stop being such scaredy-cats and hefts her own spear, cocking her head. Surely it can't be as simple as it looks, Eizo is a fan of withholding information until she's at least attempted something, but it really did look easy. Just… aim and lunge.

Some of the fish are moving slower than the others, so she focuses on those. She waits until one dares come particularly close, then angles the spear towards the water and—

Slipping on the slimy pebbles, one of her feet slides to the side and she nearly falls forward to land face-first into the water, but luckily Eizo steadies her before she can do much more than wobble on one foot.

Pursing her lips and face burning in embarrassment, once she rights herself she shrugs off his hand, and he goes back to his own 'fishing.'

Nao waits to conspicuously watch his own attempt, mentally daring him to fail.

He doesn't though, because lady luck is never on Nao's side, and not before long there's a second fish on the bank.

Frustrated, she once again turns towards the water and hefts her spear, no longer being as picky.

She'll show him.

This time she manages to actually spear the water without falling over, and she feels a flutter of hope before lifting her spear to see nothing on the other end.

Grinding her teeth together, she's about to throw in the towel and ask Eizo for help when he starts to talk, tone light and airy, as if commenting idly without any real thought. "You know," he starts, "I find it funny how the fish's reflection isn't accurate. It's fascinating how water warps things, and you see them higher than they really are."

Nao gawks at him, mouth agape in utter confusion, a sharp retort sharp on the tip of her tongue. She's over here trying her goddamn hardest at something he didn't even give _any_ kind of vague instructions to, and all he can say is some cryptic musing about something that doesn't even matter or make sense?

Then she stops for a moment and thinks about it. Then once she realises what, exactly, he'd said, her face falls flat.

Of course.

She's not aiming at the fish, she's aiming at the reflection. God, she could _slap herself_ for how _stupid_ she is. She's seen this before, while washing off in a river or a lake and her hand is submerged below the water and it looks like it's in a slightly different spot then it is.

That still doesn't tell her _how_ to aim in the first place — she swears she didn't even hit where she thought she was aiming last time — but aiming at the wrong spot doesn't exactly help anything.

Once again taking aim, she plants her feet as firmly as she can and narrows her eyes, this time aiming slightly lower than she instinctively wants to.

Spotting a slower fish she wants to go for, she readies the spear and then does the half-lunge-half-throw into the water.

She doesn't feel it connect, only raking over the rocks, but this time she doesn't get frustrated and just readies herself to try again. Nao hears Eizo pull up another fish and toss it to shore but doesn't look over, completely focused on what's in front of her.

She tries again, and again, and _again_ until she's heard Eizo pull up another three fish and he taps her on the shoulder.

"I think we have enough, so why not come and help me get wood for a fire so we can eat?"

Nodding and following him back to shore, Nao's surprised to find that she's still not annoyed. It was only her first time, after all, and she at least started getting better at keeping her balance towards the end there.

Eizo moves to put his shoes back on and Nao looks over at the small pile of fish, five total, before stretching and heading over towards the treelike to find some dry wood.

Eizo still doesn't trust her enough to actually make the fire — he hasn't said it, but she can tell — but she knows the procedure well enough to be able to find suitable enough wood. Dry, old branches are best, with some dried out leaves for kindling and nothing green. There's enough scattered along the floor that she doesn't have to go far to get an armful, and barely a few minutes later she's turning back around to where they dropped their bags. Eizo has his own pile of wood and leaves that he's working on putting together into a fire, and she drops hers beside him before flopping to the ground. The lizard pokes his head out from her shirt and she smiles down at him, giving him an idle pat on the head.

Seemingly between blinks Eizo has the fire going, and another few blinks later he has the fish on some sticks and has them staked into the ground, just outside of the fire. Remembering the plants that they gathered earlier, when Eizo was showing her some of the edible ones in this area, she stuffs her hand into her pocket and unseals the small assortment of leaves and berries to place them in her lap. Predictably the lizard nudges her cheek for some, and she gives him a few leaves before popping a berry into her mouth, biting down and enjoying as the tart juice coats her tongue.

She's missed wild food that's more than a few shrivelled up roots.

"Now that we're in the Land of Rivers there'll be plenty more time for practise," Eizo says, turning the fish. "No one is perfect on their first try."

Biting back a yawn, the sun had already set fully without her noticing and Nao can vaguely remember him mentioning that they were entering the Land of Rivers a couple days ago. There came a point that she stopped taking much attention to the names of places, just sketching out a few edible plants for the region in her — now new! — notebook and pushing it out of her mind after, but maybe she should start paying better attention again.

Eizo hands her three of the smallish fish and takes two for himself, also unsealing his own gathered food and starting to eat.

Blowing on one of her own fish, she takes a bite and chews, savouring the crunch of the skin and tenderness of the meat and thinks about using her new constellation book again tonight.

She managed to find Pavo the other night, and she's looking forward to finding out if she remembers where it is.

* * *

Leaning down to pick up another smooth pebble from the river bank, Nao pulls her arm back, aims carefully, and throws.

It skips once, twice- then falls straight into the water with an audible _plop._

Sighing in frustration, she hikes her pants up from where they'd slipped to prevent them getting wet and wishes that she still had her twine. It had been good for keeping her pant hems to stay put but was sadly lost somewhere in the Land of Wind, finally falling apart after its years of faithful service. Her old pants had begun to disintegrate even earlier, and her current ones were bought shortly before entering the desert. She'd needed more weather appropriate clothes anyway, and her own had stopped being functional long ago.

She still kind of misses her old shirt, though. The new one is made of a thin, rusty red material that never quite sits right.

This time when she throws a pebble it only skips once before falling below the surface, but she's already reaching for a new one when it does.

Nao's been practising rock skipping every time they stop for camp for the night since Eizo taught her the general technique, after she saw him doing it when she woke up earlier than usual the other morning.

Well, more like after she pestered him until he gave a vague explanation, but the details aren't important.

Regardless of how hard she tries, though, she can't get it to skip more than twice. She's tried smaller pebbles, larger pebbles, flatter pebbles and rounder pebbles, but nothing works. Eizo, as usual, has offered no advice and she's not about to ask. It would be like admitting defeat; that she can't even figure out this one, simple, inconsequential thing on her own.

The rock skips once, twice, then dips below the surface.

At least he doesn't hang around to watch her fail. He's sitting underneath one of the trees, not paying any attention to her failed attempts and carving away at whatever he's making. It's the same thing he's been working on for the past year, which is ridiculous. She'd think he's just carving multiple of the same thing but he only works on it for sporadic, short periods of time, so she begrudgingly believes him when he says he hasn't finished it yet.

He'd said he would show her it when he's done and she plans to hold him to that.

The lizard yawns and stretches, curling his tail around her neck briefly before letting it drop back down. Nao shifts her shoulder to get him to loosen his claws — which he does — and grabs another pebble.

They stopped to eat dinner early today, a rare but welcome occurrence, and the sun is only now beginning to set. It's one of her favourite times of day, the orange and pink hues casting an almost ethereal glow over the sky, and is second only to the night; when the moon and stars are out in their full glory.

Once again pulling her arm back and squinting in concentration, Nao takes a deep breath in and throws as she lets it out, arm moving in one smooth motion.

The pebble skips once, twice, _thrice,_ and-

Vanishes.

Nao stills, half bent down to reach for another pebble, and blinks.

Blinks again.

But yes, it did just vanish into thin air.

Slowly, she picks a pebble at random and picks it up, then straightens, all while looking straight ahead at the other side of the river. Cocking her arm back, this time when she tosses the pebble it only skips twice before vanishing.

Then the world _explodes_ into a flurry of movement.

Nao's pulled out of the way of something small and dark and it whistles by so close to the side of her head that she sees a few strands of now-cut hair fly away in the corner of her eye. A dark figure Nao _definitely _hadn't noticed earlier launches themselves over the river but Eizo's already moved them out of the way, a log being impaled with black knives and falling into the water with a _splash_ where they had been mere moments earlier.

Stumbling backwards, Nao falls with her back against a tree, her head spinning and dinner threatening to make its second appearance.

There's a grating ring of metal against metal and when she looks up Eizo has his blade out and up blocking a blow from a man holding another of the black knives a small ways away. She catches a glimpse of an unfamiliar symbol on a metal headband before they break away, both of them jumping back a few feet.

The enemy shinobi brings his hands up in a blur of movement, sending out a sickle of air, but Eizo is already out of the way and throwing his own black knife so all it does is put a deep gash in a tree a few feet away from Nao, causing her to jump and the lizard to dig his claws into her shoulder so he's not flung off.

Eizo's weapon, however, hits its mark, and long strings of fuinjutsu spiral out of where it's stuck in his shoulder. The man's eyes widen as the writing flares a bright white and he crumples to the ground with his mouth agape as if caught mid-scream.

There's a moment of tense silence, Eizo standing eerily still with narrowed eyes darting from left to right, and just as Nao starts to think it's over two more men _melt_ out of the space behind him.

When the one on the right darts away and the other raises his hands to flash through more of the strange hand-signs she tries to warn Eizo but the words get stuck in her throat, so all she can do is watch as the man spits a ball of _fire_ in Eizo's direction.

Eizo's head snaps up and he twists to the side but doesn't get out of the way fast enough, his right side becoming cloaked in bright orange flames that his jacket seems to repel. His pants aren't so lucky, becoming singed and turning black in spots but thankfully not continuing to burn once the fire runs out.

Eizo looks surprised that the attack had connected at all, as if he thought he'd dodged it easily, and upon realising this fact himself the attacker grins.

Recovering quickly, Eizo launches himself in the first man's direction, blade going for his gut, but his aim is so off that the man barely has to move an inch to the side until he's well out of reaching range.

Nao watches — transfixed, not really believing what she's seeing — as Eizo keeps attacking, his aim growing worse with each slash of his blade, eyes narrowing further with each miss. The man leads him in lazy circles, his smirk growing with every one of Eizo's failed attempts, and casually reaches for a pouch strapped to his leg. He takes out a small star-blade, the type she used to see at the blacksmiths, leaps into the air and _throws._

Eizo doesn't move, doesn't even _register_ that that man isn't in front of him anymore, and Nao tries to get to her feet but stumbles, hand outstretched as if she can move him out of the way through sheer willpower alone.

"_Eizo!"_

He either doesn't hear her or registers it too late, because Nao is forced to watch on in horror as the star-blade moves towards him in slow motion. She can do nothing but watch as the man's smirk turns into a toothy grin, eyes glinting with self satisfaction, the five-pointed blade hurtling through the air and cutting deep into the side of his neck and—

Eizo's figure disappears in a puff of smoke and Nao ducks as something leaps out of the tree above her head. When she looks back up it's to see the man on the defence, Eizo pressing forward with a flurry of attacks that forces his opponent backwards and further to the edge of the small clearing.

The man's companion — the one not currently… out of commission — looks uncertain as to what to do, his previously crossed arms now at his sides as he shifts from foot to foot, clearly debating between staying put and trying to help. Ultimately he must decide that his partner can handle himself because he doesn't move.

Nao goes to look back at the fight but finds she can't, her breath coming out in ragged pants, her heart beating so hard in her chest she's sure everyone within a mile's radius can hear it. Swallowing around the lump in her throat, she loosens the death-grip she has on her pants and forcibly drags her eyes away from the other bystander.

It's only then she realises the boy hadn't looked any older than fifteen.

Nao looks back at the fight just in time to see the man jump backwards, a black knife digging into the soil where he had just been. He skids backwards, body tense, waiting for another attack. Eizo, however, stays where he is and simply stares.

There's a split second where she thinks the man is going to make a bolt for it, but as soon as the thought flits through her mind Eizo throws another knife.

He jolts and moves to the side, but he didn't need to. The throw goes wide, missing by a good few feet and sticking firmly into the dirt to his left.

Nao blinks and when she opens her eyes there's a bright white square on the ground, the man smack dab in the middle of it. He's deathly still, not moving a muscle, and she waits for him to attack, to run, to _something._

But nothing happens.

Eizo takes a step forward, heading towards the last knife he threw, but the man still doesn't move.

Nao's baffled at first, but then she takes a closer look and sees that it's not just him staying still, it's _everything._ Everything from the grass to the bushes and trees that's in the square is frozen; even the leaves aren't affected by the breeze that's causing those outside the boundaries to sway. Squinting, she thinks she can even see a butterfly motionless in midair, wings caught midway through a flap.

Eizo reaches the knife and crouches — careful not to lean past the lines — then grips the handle.

The square _flares_. Strings of symbols rush from each of the points and when they reach the middle they spiral up the man's legs and climb higher still; reaching all the way down his arms and up to his neck. There's another, dimmer flare and then they disappear, sinking into his skin.

At first Nao think's nothing happened, but then she notices the butterfly flying away and the leaves continuing their lazy sway.

Eizo pulls the knife out of the ground and the square fizzles out, but the man stays rigid and unmoving. Looking to the side, where the last person is standing stock-still, Eizo stands up in one smooth motion and takes a step in his direction.

The teenager books it, dashing into the trees so fast he's just a motion blur. Eizo doesn't give chase, instead moving towards — what once was — one of the other corners of the square. He stoops down and grabs another knife she hadn't even noticed and pulls that one up too, tucking it into a pouch in his belt.

She vaguely registers him doing it twice more — heading towards the corner of the now-gone square and picking up a knife — but can't quite focus. It's like a foggy lens has slotted itself over her eyes and no matter how hard she squints the blur won't go away.

Blinking a few times, Nao looks down at her hands and realises that they're once again white-knuckled while gripping her pants, so she lets go and smoothes the material out.

Registering that she's still on the ground, she pulls herself up to her feet, holding herself steady against the tree. The lizard shifts, and she tries to concentrate on the feeling of his claws digging into her skin, letting it ground her. Nao takes a deep breath and when she lets it out she drops her hand to her side and straightens, her vision slowly refocusing.

When she looks to the side she finds Eizo approaching, and upon looking around the only sign anything had happened at all the gash in the tree nearby. Both of the men are gone, and she wonders just how she's been staring into space.

"What-" she swallows, pushing aside the _what was that?_ and clearing her throat. "Who were they?"

Eizo comes to a stop in front of her and searches her face, somehow managing to not look _down_ at her despite being so much taller. Nao stares back, willing her hands to stop shaking.

He gives a deep sigh and drags a hand down his face, clearly not wanting to answer, or trying to come up with a good enough half-truth to placate her.

Or maybe he's just tired.

"Nukenin. New ones, by the looks of it," he finally replies, looking up at the trees. "I doubt they were looking for us directly. It's more likely they stumbled across us by accident and wanted to try their luck." Frowning, he looks like the thought troubles him more than some random encounter should, and Nao suspects there's something more to it that he isn't letting on.

Before she can ask, however, he snaps his attention back to her and gives her a quick once-over. "Are you alright?"

The way he says it makes it obvious he already knows the answer and is just asking for the formality of it, but she nods anyway. "Yeah, yeah 'm fine," Nao answers, pleasantly surprised that her voice doesn't prove her a liar by shaking. "What're we gonna do now?"

"Nothing, for now," he answers, letting up his intense stare and turning to look around, patting imaginary dirt off his pants. "Like I said, it was probably a chance encounter. Nothing to be worried about."

She doesn't know who he's trying to convince more; her or himself.

"Come on, we'll find a better place to set up camp for the night."

Nao nods again and follows him when he starts heading back towards the path, even though both of them know they're not going to set up camp tonight at all.


	15. A Fork in the Road

Nao blinks.

Blinks again.

"Can ya repeat that?" she asks, resisting the urge to clean her ear for dramatic effect, "because I don't think I heard you right."

"We're moving on to the next village," Eizo repeats as he starts walking back down the street, forcing her to jog in order to catch up. "There's nothing for us to do here."

"Yup, karma's finally caught up with me. I've been struck dumb, nothin' you're sayin' is making any sense. It's all gibberish. I hope I'm cured soon, but in case it's a life-long condition I just want ya to know that it's been awful knowing you."

Huffing, Eizo doesn't quite roll his eyes — the stick up his ass probably doesn't allow for that much personality to shine through — but the _feeling_ is there, and Nao suppresses a laugh when he brings a hand up to run through his hair, forgetting the locks — long and silver, this time — are pulled back in a low ponytail.

"No, but for real, have ya looked around? This place is a dump. Surely they have _somethin' _for us to do, no one turns down free labor that easily."

"I'm merely relaying to you what they told me, and they made it clear in no uncertain terms that there's nothing for us here," he replies, turning down a side street that leads towards the southern edge of the village and picking up the pace. "Besides, I thought you'd be happy. You hate working."

"I am, and I do! It's just strange," she says quickly, head instinctively turning towards the smell emanating from the small bakery they're walking past. A woman clutching a brown paper bag to her chest walks out at that exact moment and sends her a glare when she catches her staring, so Nao ducks her head and snaps her attention back to the path in front of them.

EIzo quirks a brow but otherwise doesn't comment, effectively dropping the conversation. Nao despises the silence, craving the distraction from the looks they've been getting, but can't think of anything else to say and thus is forced to drop it too.

The stares and glares aren't exactly a new thing, not even close, but they never used to be this bad. There was always the curious looks — she can imagine they make quite the pair, after all — but the overt looks of disgust were always from old geezers and whatever ungrateful brats they were helping that day. But over the last couple months it's been steadily getting worse and worse, curious glances turning to cautious looks, and now it's like a switch has gone off in everyone's brains and there's a target on their back proclaiming them as public enemy number one.

With each nasty look sent their way Eizo quickens his pace, and it feels an awful lot like they're being run out of town.

What assholes.

It doesn't take long for them to reach the southern exit, and they leave the same time as another traveler enters. Nao is so caught off guard by it — she doubts a backwater town like this gets many visitors, and seeing a lone traveller is something of a rarity — that she only catches sight of a blue shirt and black sheath before they've walked past each other.

When she tries to look behind her to get a better look Eizo places a firm hand on her shoulder, and she looks up at him in surprise. He's staring straight ahead, a slight crease in his brow, but when his eyes flicker down to meet hers he sends her a small smile, squeezing slightly before letting go.

"Why don't we play one of those games you like so much? You can go first."

Perking up, Nao flashes him a toothy grin and narrows her eyes in challenge. "You're on, old man."

* * *

Rolling over, Nao yawns and reaches up to scratch her face. Feeling something solid there, she swats it off and snuggles further into her blanket.

Her mind had just begun to drift back off to dreamland when Nao once again feels a weight on her face. Scrunching up her nose, she swats it off and rolls over, trying to get comfortable again.

Then there's a sharp pain on her face and she bolts up, flinging the blanket off and reaching up to clutch her nose. Feeling something _smooth_ and _scaly_ on her face, her eyes fly open and she looks down at what she's now holding, going crosseyed.

"You bastard," Nao says, slightly muffled from the body covering her mouth. "The hell you do that for?"

Apparently deciding that he's had a good enough chomp, the lizard lets go of her nose and she lowers him down into her lap, then reaches up to rub her sore nose. There's no blood, thank god, but damn it hurt!

The lizard has no answer, as usual, but he does look strangely… distressed?

Frowning, Nao watches as he skitters to and fro, clearly agitated by something. He's looking from side to side, swishing his tail about and not sitting still longer than a second, though he seems to be mainly focused on the trees to her right.

Turning to face that direction, Nao can't see anything particularly strange. Just the glowing seal on the trunk of a tree, the same one Eizo puts up sometimes when he's feeling particularly paranoid.

Looking down at the lizard, she reaches out to pick him up. "Come on, there's nothin' there. We've still got a few hours of sleep le- hey!" Snatching her hand back and looking for bite marks, she glares down at the lizard. "What's your problem? There's nothin' there! Just look you stupid-"

Nao cuts herself off and goes deathly silent, her ears prickling at the sound of rustling leaves. She scoops up the lizard and jumps to her feet — nearly tripping over the blanket — and her head jerks to the side.

Heart thundering in her ears, Nao squints to try and see through the darkness and doesn't make a sound, doesn't so much as _breathe._

The lizard has stopped fussing, hanging limp in her hands, and she would put him on her shoulder but she doesn't want to risk the noise.

Then she hears it again and she narrows in on a cluster of trees to her right, watching as a large figure staggers out of the trees. Her muscles tense, ready to spring into action and bolt.

"… Eizo?"

The figure — _Eizo_ — freezes, then straightens. He takes a few steps forward, then catches himself on a tree when he stumbles. Nao takes a hesitant step forward, then when he stumbles again she rushes forward, darting around ferns and putting the lizard on her shoulder.

Nao stops when she reaches him, hovering and wanting to help but not knowing how she would start even if she knew what was wrong. Eizo tries to straighten again but grunts and bends over, clutching his side. She can't see very well due to the low light and the shadows the trees cast, but the cloth under his hand looks darker than that around it. "Are you okay?"

He opens his mouth to speak, then thinks better of it and shuts it again. "It's been dealt with," he says eventually, and she huffs.

"You idiot, I asked if you were- no, ya know what, I don't care. Can you make it back to the fire or do I gotta make a new one over here?" Nao asks, already searching the ground for some dry enough sticks to make a new fire with. It'd rained a few days ago but they'd managed to find some earlier and she can use her failed fuinjutsu for kindling, she's just going to have to get it from her bag-

"I can make it back, and we don't need a fire," he grunts, casting a weary glance over his shoulder. He takes three more short steps before stumbling, and Nao is an inch away from trying to catch him before realising how much of a bad idea that is. So instead she hangs back and watches him as he tries to act as if nothing is wrong, the stubborn idiot.

It's then she realises he's favouring his right leg.

Frustrated, she looks around for something to help with. Surely she can do something, she's not _stupid._

Eyes landing on the tree with one of the elaborate seals on it half a dozen or so feet away, she gets an idea. "Why don't you just get to there?" Nao says, pointing at the tree. "I don't really get what it does, but it's some kinda barrier, right? I'll grab our stuff an' make a new fire, I'm freezin' anyway."

It's not even a total lie. They're on the tail end of winter, the chill in the air still yet to turn into the warmth of spring, and while it doesn't hold a candle to the Land of Frost it's still uncomfortable.

Eizo looks like he wants to argue, but gives in and nods, grunting an agreement just as she knew he would. He rarely says no to something if she frames it like it's something she wants for herself.

Satisfied he'll stop once he reaches the tree, Nao turns around to start grabbing dry sticks and branches. Many are still too damp to use and she has to brush aside ferns to find the dry ones, but eventually she collects enough to last until morning. Or so she hopes, at least.

Nao drops the wood off by Eizo, who's now sat leaning against a tree further away than she would have liked, but whatever. At least he's sitting down and doesn't look like he's about to pass out any second. She tries to sneak a peek at his side, but all she can see is a large gash in his coat. Due to the way he's sitting she can't see how deep it goes, or if it even got through to skin at all.

Spinning on her heel so he doesn't catch her looking, Nao heads towards their stuff. There's not much, only her bag and a couple thin bedrolls, so if she rolls them up first it should only take one trip. The lizard is strangely silent, not kicking up anymore of a fuss. He's just staring at her, glittering miss-matched eyes seeming to stare into her very soul, and she wonders just what he's thinking.

If he can think at all.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder, Nao rolls up the bedrolls and hefts them into her arms. It's kind of awkward, sure, but she can still see over it and she can make it work. She makes sure to walk extra carefully in order to avoid falling flat on her face, at any rate.

When she reaches where Eizo is sitting she drops the rolls and grabs the failed-fuinjutsu paper from her bag, dropping it with the wood.

Flopping to the ground unceremoniously, she stretches before settling into a cross-legged position, reaching out to try and attempt to start up the fire. Eizo is already reaching for it, though, and gets to it first, making her huff.

But she doesn't argue. She understands the want to not feel useless.

So instead Nao checks to see how long it's going to be until the sun rises again, and upon finding the moon still high in the sky she starts laying out the bedrolls again. Even if they don't really go back to sleep it's nice to pretend.

Pretty soon Eizo has the fire going and he lays back, resting his head against the tree trunk and closing his eyes. Nao tries not to make it obvious that she's watching him, but after a few minutes she stifles a yawn and he cracks an eye open to peer at her.

"Go back to sleep," he says after a few seconds, "I'll be fine." Nao instantly starts to protest but he ignores her, continuing to talk as if she hadn't made a sound. "Really, I'll be fine after some rest. There's no use both of us being tired in the morning."

Swallowing thickly, Nao has to exert real effort to avoid checking him over for injuries again. There's already a rock settled in her stomach and a voice whispering in her ear _"this is your fault, if you weren't here he wouldn't get hurt like this," _and when she blinks next her eyes feel hot.

"What's gonna happen in the morning? Last time you said— well. It wasn't a one-off."

Nao nearly regrets saying anything when she sees his reaction; his whole body sagging as if he simply can't exert the effort to hold himself up anymore, somehow looking so much _older_ in the span of a few seconds. But she had to ask, the question burning her up from the inside out.

_What now?_

He doesn't answer immediately, and each second that passes drags on, stretched and pulled until she's not sure if it's been an hour or a single moment.

"You're right. It's not safe to keep doing this anymore, and it's only going to get more dangerous as time goes on. I… have an idea of what to do, but I don't think you'll like it. I don't even like it."

"What is it?" Nao asks, squashing the voice and shoving it to the back of her mind when it flares up again.

"We need to go somewhere safe, and the best place I can think of is where I grew up."

He sighs, then looks her dead in the eye.

"We're going to Uzushio."


	16. The Road Not Taken

Nao stops to look at a small, brown lizard.

It's only about the size of her middle finger — _much_ smaller than her lizard — and its scales blend into the tree bark that it's clinging to so well she nearly missed it. It, in turn, looks like it hasn't noticed her, its eyes closed and body perfectly still. Not even its long, thin tail is moving the slightest twitch.

It could be dead and no one would be able to tell.

"What are you looking at?"

Spooked by the noise, the lizard darts down the trunk and disappears into the bushes. Nao follows the movement and stares at the point it disappeared. The leaves rustle at the disturbance but settle quickly, and a few seconds later it's as if the lizard hadn't been there at all.

"Nothin'," she replies, tearing her eyes away and turning to face Eizo. There's a moment of awkward silence, then just as Eizo is about to say something she breaks eye contact and continues walking.

She passes him and a few seconds later she hears him follow close behind.

The tension is thick in the air, each step feeling like she's wading through jelly, but she trudges ahead and doesn't look back.

There isn't the same prickling sensation she gets when the villagers stare at her, but she knows he's staring all the same. Perhaps not in the same obvious way, never directly looking, but he's doing it in the way only Eizo can.

He knows her stance, however, — she'd made it _quite_ clear — and she refuses to look back.

She refuses to give in.

Even as they head towards the Land of Whirlpools.

The air is once again getting drier, but not quite as bad as Wind or as dusty as Earth. It's the kind of dry that's only just on the side of uncomfortable, not an extreme either way but once you notice it you can never quite shake it. Like a single mosquito buzzing around your head while you're trying to sleep or getting an itch on that one part of your back you can't reach.

The trees are getting taller, long, spindly branches reaching towards the sky with reaching hands, but Nao doesn't stop to marvel at it. Hardly notices it, really, beyond a fleeting glance. All the branches do is shield her from more of the sun anyway.

"Nao, we have to talk about this sooner or later."

"We did talk about it," she answers, stepping over a particularly large rock and looking dead ahead. "Don't ya remember? You said things, I said things. We talked."

There's an exhale of air behind her and she can clearly see him in her mind's eye, pinching the bridge of his nose and softly shaking his head in frustration as he so often does after dealing with a particularly difficult 'client'.

Not that they've had any 'clients' at all in the past few weeks.

They very well may never have another one again.

"That wasn't talking," he finally says, voice ever soft in that patient way of his that's_ really _starting to get on her nerves. "That was just arguing and going around in circles. It didn't accomplish anything."

Nao snorts, the noise causing the lizard — the right lizard, the good one, the one that didn't leave — to nudge her jaw with his head. She glances down to give him a reassuring pat and a quick smile before looking away.

"That's stupid. What else would you call it? Words came out of our mouths, that's talking. Look, we're doing it right now, see? Blah blah blah, hello world! I'm having a talk with my pal Eizo!" Nao yells the last part, sweeping an arm towards the sky and doing a twirl for flair.

Cue the minuscule frown and lip twitch.

"You're changing the subject."

She drops her arm back to her side. "Well done, captain obvious. Do ya want to tell me the sky is blue while you're at it? Or maybe that water is wet? I hear that's a groundbreaking discovery."

There's a long stretch of silence, and for a moment Nao lets herself believe that's the end of it, that they could continue traveling in silence for the rest of the day. But of course nothing is ever that easy.

"What am I supposed to do with you?"

He mutters it under his breath, barely audible and obviously meant for himself rather than her, but Nao can't help the sharp retort she replies with on reflex.

"Oh, I don't know, how about ya _don'_t toss me aside like I'm some kinda trash you found in a gutter somewhere? That'd be great."

"Nao," he says sharply, all patience gone, "you know that's not what this is."

"Do I?" she asks just as sharply, spinning on her heel to glare at him and determinedly not flinching upon seeing his own intense stare. "'Cuz I'm not sure I do. Tell me, what part am I confused on? The part where we're goin' to a village or the part where you _leave me there on my own_?"

"That's not-"

"Yes it is! You're dumpin' me in some shit hole an' pissin' off to do who knows what. What else would ya call it?"

"I don't want to leave you on your own, but I may not have a choice."

"_Don't lie to me_!" she snaps, anger finally boiling over and jabbing a finger at his chest. "There's always a choice. If you want me gone jus' say so, don't make up bullshit. Stop bein' such a wimp and jus' say it."

Hands shaking and chest heaving, Nao's fingernails dig into her palms as she glares at Eizo, and she prays her flushed face isn't too noticeable.

Eizo stares back, outwardly appearing perfectly calm, but she knows better. He's startled, trying to think of the best thing to say, the best route to take. Trying to think of a way to make her back down.

Nao stands her ground.

"I swear," he says slowly, "that I will do everything I can to stay with you. I can't promise I will be able to, but I promise I'll try. The village we're going to is far larger than any we've visited before, far more _powerful_, and if they don't want me there then there's nothing I'll be able to do about it."

"Why," she whispers — mind whirling, remembering the sight of a man frozen in place, of a butterfly caught mid-flight — "why're we goin' there then?"

"Because," he says, shoulders rolling back as his eyes flick to the trees and then back to her, "things are only going to get worse, and it's the best choice we've got."

Gritting her teeth, Nao looks him in the eye, searching for a crack in his facade, a chip in his armor, any hint of a lie.

She finds none.

Shoulders slumping, Nao lets out a breath and feels both heavier and lighter at the same time, like a weight has been taken off her shoulders and placed onto her chest instead.

"I hate this."

He sends her a small, sad smile.

"I know."

—

Nao loves fish.

She loves it with a passion. Loves the way it sizzles over an open flame and crisps to perfection, loves the juicy taste as she bites into the flesh, loves the flakiness of it as it melts in her mouth.

Yes, Nao loves fish.

Fishing villages, though?

They can rot in hell.

There's nothing like the stench of hundreds — no, _thousands_ — of freshly caught fish all in one place. It's thick and cloying in a way that can't be compared to anything else, the smell slamming you in the face all at once and not giving you any respite.

You'd think after visiting so many she'd be used to it by now, but she's not. There's simply no getting used to the way it claws its way down her throat and makes her gag, and each time she starts to forget about the smell it's all too happy to whack her over the head and return with full force.

So who can blame her for being in a shitty mood?

"Why a _fishing_ village? Why couldn't it 'ave been a farming village, or a ranching village? Heck, I'd take a_ mining_ village over this, an' those guys smell like a dirty sock soaked in milk that's been left in the sun for a week," Nao whines, pulling the collar of her jacket over her nose.

It doesn't help.

Eizo doesn't dignify her with an answer, continuing to walk down the street and not even glancing her way. Huffing, Nao stretches her arms over her head — feeling her back do a satisfying pop — and suppresses a yawn.

It's still early in the morning, the sun having risen a half hour ago, but the village is already bustling with activity. It's probably one of the largest — if not _the_ largest — villages she's seen so far. Whereas normally the ones they visit can barely produce enough to get by — whether that be food or goods to sell — this one looks like it can produce enough food to feed all of its residents several times over.

There's no doubt why it also doubles as the main trading port in the area.

As they walk down the main street Nao can't help but look to the side, watching the docked boats rock with the gentle waves of the ocean. There are only a handful larger boats still docked, most of them already being taken out to sea with their nets cast, but she doesn't dare look further.

The vastness of the ocean is still as terrifying as the first time she saw it.

They come to a stop outside the same building they've been visiting every other day for the last week. For a main hall of a village this size it's not especially big or grand, being made of the same wood as the buildings around it and only being a touch larger than them, standing at three stories instead of two.

Unlike past visits, however, there's a small crowd outside the double doors. Half a dozen men and women are talking to each other with booming voices, tanned skin covering taut muscle, but she only recognises one of them.

"Ah, Taishi! I was just about to send a runner to the inn to tell you we're nearly ready to go." Shoji — an unofficial leader of sorts for the trading port — turns from where he was talking to a woman with spiky orange hair to greet them.

"My apologies, we would have been here sooner but this one insisted on having a second serve of breakfast," Eizo says, and when he gestures to her Nao sends him a look of betrayal, causing Shoji to chuckle.

"Machida's food is famous for a reason! No matter, you're right on time anyway."

Nao has no idea who Machida is, nor what their cooking is like, but she keeps her mouth shut. She doesn't know how Eizo has managed to convince everyone that they're staying at the inn and not camping on the outskirts of the village, but she accepted long ago that she may never get answers to all of the stuff Eizo does.

Eizo and Shoji continue talking, but she zones out and doesn't catch a word. It's probably better that she doesn't hear whatever they're saying anyway.

The woman Shoji had been talking to is glancing at her from the corner of her eye, trying to catch a peek at the lizard, so Nao pulls her jacket tighter around herself and angles her shoulder away, shooting her a glare. Getting the hint, the woman turns and begins talking to a man with a scar running up his cheek and a chunk missing from the bottom of his ear.

"Right," Shoji says loudly, clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "Now that everything is settled, let's get a move on."

After a few murmurs and nods of agreement, the gathered people start moving towards the docks, idly chatting all the way.

When Eizo starts walking Nao follows, keeping her eyes down at the ground. She doesn't look up, not even when the gravel street beneath her feet turns into the wooden boards of the docks and salty air fills her senses.

Eizo gently nudges her arm and she casts a few quick glances around, finding the others to already be on their boats, she and Eizo being the only two left on the dock.

Swallowing nervously, Nao looks up at Eizo. He smiles down at her reassuringly and nods his head towards the ship in front of them, waiting for her to go first.

Taking a deep breath, Nao gathers her courage, looks up at the vast ocean and clear skies, and takes a step forward.

—

Gate duty is, and always will be, Yoshito's most hated job.

Usually the position is reserved for shinobi needing a break from being on active duty for too long, shinobi that are close to retiring, or, occasionally, shinobi that are being punished, but when your partner is a lazy Kushiro that would rather nap than take anything seriously you end up being saddled with the job more often than not.

Speak of the devil.

"Kichi, wake up!"

Kichiro nearly falls out of his chair when Yoshito slaps a hand next to his head, his kunai instinctively slashing the air Yoshito's arm had been moments before.

Upon realising there is no immediate danger, he stretches an arm over his head and yawns, blinking blearily up at Yoshito. "What'd you do that for? I was just getting up to the good bit…"

"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't sleep on the job before it sticks in that thick skull of yours?" Yoshito asks, exasperated, and leans back in his chair with a huff. "Honestly, I don't know how you got past the first month of the academy."

"Ahh, come on now, don't be so harsh. Hane will tell me when the merchants are here anyway, why not live a little?" Kichiro waves him off, moving to once again lay his head on the bench and continue his nap only to jolt back up when Yoshito flicks a kunai of his own into the wood millimetres away from his nose.

"And this is why you'll forever be a chuunin, always relying on your bird. What happens if an enemy takes her out, huh? You'll be dead before you can even open your eyes."

Kichiro scoffs. "Like that'll ever happen. Besides, that's what you're for, isn't it? You do all the worrying and I'll do enough napping for the both of us. It's a good system. Don't mess with the system."

Scowling, Yoshito goes to argue the point further but stops when he hears three distinct coos, and when he looks up he can see Hane circling above. They're nearly here.

"This conversation isn't over," he says, getting out of his chair to get the required paperwork from the back room and pointedly ignoring the way Kichiro mocks him behind his back.

An hour later and Yoshito remembers the _other_ reason he hates gate duty.

The paperwork.

The process is so streamlined that a freshly green genin could walk through the door and pick it up with little to no trouble, but that doesn't change the mind-numbing nature of the job. It enhances it, if anything.

A dozen papers to be signed for each cart, stocks to be taken, heads to be counted, rinse and repeat. By the time they get up to the last two people Yoshito's hand is cramping and he's wondering if maybe Kichiro is onto something with the whole napping thing.

"Name?"

Pen hovering over the page, when there's no reply Yoshito finally looks up.

The man in front of him has the same stocky build as the other fishermen, all broad shoulders and defined muscle, only he's a head taller than the rest of them. Small, faded scars litter his arms and face, the majority of them barely noticeable, and his blond hair is pulled up in a low ponytail.

There's something_ off _about him, but Yoshito can't quite place his finger on what, exactly.

His left hand finds its way down to his kunai pouch, just in case.

The kid next to the man has his eyes fixed to Yoshito's forehead, gaze unwavering, which isn't unusual in and of itself, but his face is portraying none of the usual excitement that usually comes from merchants' kids. His head is tilted to the side, black hair tickling his chin, and Yoshito wonders why he looks both curious, angry and terrified all at the same time.

"Eizo," the man says, "Uzumaki Eizo."

Frowning, Yoshito tears his eyes away from the strange boy back to the man, and immediately slams his palm into the emergency seal under the counter and sends several rapid pulses of chakra into it, alerting every shinobi within a ten kilometre radius.

Because the man's hair has turned _red_.


	17. Yellow is the Loneliest Colour

Nao hates the colour yellow.

It's awful. Plain and simple. She could talk at length about how the colour reminds her of piss, of an infected wound, of pus, but when it comes down to it yellow is just an awful colour. Truly terrible. Makes her want to vomit.

Which is probably contributing to her anger.

Because the walls she's been forced to stare at for god knows how long are _yellow._

Why anyone would paint anything yellow escapes her. The colour is so fucking awful, so goddamn _disgusting_ that anyone who dares willingly paint their walls yellow deserves to have their eyes gouged out because they're _**clearly**_ not using them anyway.

Yes, she knows she's probably exaggerating, but honestly it's a lot easier to think about how much the colour yellow disgusts her than to think about how the cold steel of the chair she can't get up from is digging into her back. It's a lot easier than resisting the urge to look behind her at the opaque glass, far easier than imagining the people that must be sat on the other side staring at her, watching her every move while she can't see so much as a hair of them.

It's far easier to get angry about something inconsequential than to acknowledge the full-body _ache_ that is the absence of the lizard or the fact that she has no idea where they took Eizo.

Hating the colour yellow is easier than thinking about how alone she is.

It had all happened so fast. One second Eizo was talking to the man at the gate and the next her body had locked up, limbs feeling like there were chains restricting even the most minuscule of movements, and she barely had enough time to panic before her vision faded to black and she passed out.

When she came to, she was already sat in this chair, a metal table and a second chair on the other side, and someone standing next to her. She only managed to catch a glimpse of a metal headband with the same symbol on it that the man at the gate desk had before they left through the door behind her.

The first thing she'd done was try to get up, but she's unable to. She can move — her arms, legs and head all moving easily when she tries— but when she attempts to get out of the chair her body locks up and painful jolts are sent through her limbs — _the shadows are twisting up her body, holding her in place and __**squeezing**__ so hard she's scared her bones will break under the pressure _— causing her to bite her tongue so she doesn't scream.

She only tried it once.

Her hands aren't bound but there are two bracelet-like contraptions on her wrists. She's in the same clothes but there's no sign of her bag and when she looks the fuinjutsu in her pockets is gone. When she tries to send a spark of chakra into the cloth j_ust in case_ she can't manage even that, the bracelets glowing faintly when she tries.

She's effectively trapped here without any way to contact anyone until someone comes through the door.

Nao hates feeling helpless even more than she hates the colour yellow.

Time drags by agonisingly slowly, each second feeling like a minute and each minute like an hour. It's reminiscent of sitting alone at the table and waiting for Aiko to make tea way back when, that same sort of anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop, and there's even the same _tick_ as each second passes despite there not being a clock anywhere in sight.

The back of her neck burns with the knowledge of unseen people watching her every move, and she's acutely aware of every minuscule action she makes.

The ticking is deafening.

Nao's not sure how long she sat there waiting, all she knows is that when the door finally opens her eyes fly open and she doesn't remember shutting them.

At first she manages to resist the urge to look behind her, but patience has never been a virtue she's particularly fond of, so her resolve crumbles like a cookie left in milk too long after the first minute.

Standing by the door with their hands behind their back is a person almost entirely dressed in black. Black pants, shirt, open toed sandals and elbow-length gloves, grey armguards and armoured vest; the only part of them that shows any hint of colour is their mask.

It's an odd looking thing. Made of a stark white material that looks smooth to touch, what really catches Nao's attention is the intricate blue lines that swirl across the surface in lazy patterns.

If she tilts her head and squints the mask kind of looks like a squirrel.

Frowning once she realises they haven't so much as glanced her way yet, Nao starts talking before she can even register opening her mouth.

"What, ya gonna jus' stand there ignoring me all day?"

No response.

"Oi, dumbass, I'm talking to you! How long am I gonna have to be in here for? I need to pee."

Nothing.

"Okay, yeah, I lied about needing to pee, but what if I did, huh? What would happen then? I hope you've got cleaners because I sure as shit ain't cleaning up my own piss jus' 'cause you didn't think to show me where the bathroom is."

It's like talking to a brick wall.

"Geez, you're not a talker, are ya? That's fine, I've had a lot of practise talking enough for two."

Brick. Wall.

"You remind me of Eizo, you know."

Ah, there we go.

The person — man? It's hard to tell with that mask on — doesn't so much as twitch, ever the perfect imitation of a stone statue, but in that moment she _knows_ his attention is on her. As soon as she mentions Eizo's name the back of her neck prickles from the not-directly-looking-stare, the same kind Eizo sometimes does.

Bingo.

"Yeah, I think you'd get along. You're both boring as hell, for one. I swear, the day Eizo made his first joke I nearly wept tears of joy. I was very proud, you know."

He's hanging on her every word, probably waiting for her to slip up and say something incriminating. She's only a kid, after all, and therefore must be an idiot.

Adults are always _so_ predictable.

"There is one difference, though, now that I think 'bout it. Ya see, while Eizo may be a stiff bastard that wouldn't know how to loosen up even if I pulled the rod out from his ass, I still like him an awful lot. You, though? Well…" Nao lets the small smile drop from her face, tilting her head and narrowing her eyes into what she hopes to be a bone-chilling glare. "Well, let's just say I wouldn't give you a sip of water if you were lying half dead in a desert. Now, I'll only ask you this once, so you better listen up.

_Where the fuck is the lizard?"_

Nao practically growls the last part, and accidentally leans so far out of the chair that it registers her as trying to get up. She bites her tongue, tasting blood, and leans back a touch.

Finally — _finally _— he moves, his head slowly turning to face her. Though she can't see his eyes through the mask — _how does he see?_ — she doesn't falter, staring him down and not wavering in the slightest. The room is so quiet that Nao can hear her own heartbeat, its steady rhythm calming her nerves somewhat.

She can't afford to be intimidated.

After a few tense seconds that feel more like decades, he breaks eye-contact, turns, and leaves.

Alone once again.

Sighing, Nao slumps in the chair and tilts her head back, staring up at the ceiling.

It's yellow.

She feels like screaming.

—

When the door opens once again Nao is disappointed to see the squirrel guy come through and resume his imitation of the world's most boring statue.

Snorting, Nao goes to resume singing every nursery rhyme she can remember (the people on the other side of the glass have to listen to it all, ha!) but stops when a second person steps through the door and shuts it behind them.

The woman that steps through has a far more commanding posture than Squirrel Guy. Whereas he blends into the background, she commands attention, holding herself with confidence and a certain grace Nao remembers seeing in dancers when they visited a village that was hosting a harvest festival.

While still wearing practical clothing that somewhat resembles Squirrel Guy's, it's in rich reds and golds instead of the boring black and grey, matching the ornate gold pin holding her brilliant red hair in a high ponytail.

Overall, she's dressed like someone that's probably important.

Not that Nao cares.

Mulling over the decision to ignore her the way Nao's been ignored for_ hours_, ultimately she decides that would be too easy.

And boring.

Eizo had said she could be herself, after all, and Nao wouldn't want to rob the woman of the full experience.

Kicking her feet up on the table, Nao wishes the chair wasn't stuck so firmly to the floor so she could rock back onto two legs for full effect.

By the time the woman sits on the other side of the table Nao is already halfway through humming _Momotaro-san_ and can practically _feel_ the glare from Squirrel Guy, which is ridiculous. Nao practised her whistling an hour ago and compared to that this is the red carpet treatment.

The woman waits patiently for Nao to finish with her hands clasped on her knee, legs crossed and foot softly tapping along with the rhythm.

Meanwhile Nao stares at the ceiling and debates if she hates gold as much as she hates yellow.

After Nao finishes humming the closing lines the woman gives a small round of applause. "Marvellous performance. Do you practise often?"

It takes a good dose of self-control for Nao to hold the laughter in at her comment. She knows she sounds like a dying seagull when she tries to do anything even remotely resembling music, and she's impressed the woman can lie through her teeth so well. "Nah, I reckon I'm jus' born with natural talent," Nao answers primly.

"Well, either way, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Kayo Uzumaki, what's your name?"

Uzumaki. Eizo's rough explanation of the village may be hazy in her memory, but he'd made sure to hammer the name _Uzumaki_ so far into her brain that she's sure it'll never come out.

Uzumaki means important, means _dangerous_, and while Eizo had assured her several times that they wouldn't do anything to a kid Nao has her doubts.

"Nao," she says, resisting the urge to say a fake name just to mess with her.

_Be yourself,_ Eizo had said, _but not stupid._

"No last name?" Kayo asks, voice mimicking detached curiosity so well Nao would have been fooled if she weren't trapped in her chair with a guard by the door.

"Nope," she says, looking back up at the ceiling as if completely bored by the conversation, which isn't far from the truth. The longer the woman — _Kayo _— stays civil and dances around the elephant balancing on a ping-pong ball in the room the more Nao's nerves stand on end.

The other shoe hasn't dropped yet.

"You didn't get one from your parents?" Kayo presses, leaning forward ever so slightly, a furrow in her brow as if concerned.

"Nah, don't see a need for one, myself. 'S not like me an' Dad stay in one place long enough for it to matter." When Kayo goes to ask another question, Nao cuts her off. "I ain't answering anythin' else until you give the lizard back, yeah?"

Kayo tilts her head. "You're asking after the lizard, and not your father?"

Nao keeps staring at the ceiling.

"Alright, I hear you loud and clear," Kayo sighs. "I was told you were worried about your pet, so I took the liberty of bringing it in with me."

"What do you—"

Looking back down, Nao scrabbles to catch the lizard that's on the edge of the table trying to reach out to her. She barely catches him before he tumbles off, and she would have fallen out of her chair if she weren't practically glued to it.

"The fuck!? When did he get there?" Nao exclaims, looking over the lizard for any injuries. If they hurt even a single scale on his head, she swears she'll—

"He's been there the whole time," Kayo says, almost sounding smug, and in that moment Nao decides that yes, she hates gold just as much as yellow.

"Fuck you," Nao spits out, any semblance of patience gone. "You take all my shit, leave me here for hours, then, what, decide to be a cryptic asshole? Do us both a favour an' hurry up an' ask whatever bullshit you want and then piss off. Preferably off a cliff."

She puts the lizard on her shoulder, under her shirt, and he then immediately shoves his snout under her jaw as if trying to calm her down.

Her heart breaks just thinking about where he could have been all this time.

"You haven't asked after your father this whole time."

Scratching the underside of the lizard's jaw, Nao sends an ice cold glare in the Red Hair Bitch's direction. "Yeah, and I ain't gonna. He's a big boy and can handle himself jus' fine. So get on with it."

The back of Nao's neck is burning with Squirrel Guy's indirect glare, but she doesn't dignify him with so much as a glance. She'll be as rude as she damn likes, thank you very much.

"How old are you?"

"Seven," Nao sniffs, continuing to look down at the lizard and pet the top of his head.

"When's your birthday?"

That gives her a moment's pause. "Early spring-ish? Maybe late winter, I dunno."

Red Hair Bitch raises an eyebrow. "You don't know your own birthday?"

"Not really. I mean, does it even matter? Dates blend together when you travel a lot."

Tick. Tick. Tick.

She gives a noncommittal hum, and doesn't answer. "Have you been traveling a long time?"

Nao shrugs. "I dunno, depends what ya think is a long time. Been a bit longer than a year."

"What do you believe to be the reason you're here?"

_Tock._

Furrowing her brow, Nao stops to think about what to say next. Eizo had warned her that something like this was likely to happen, but she'd brushed him off at the time. She'd still been pissed at him, and wasn't really taking anything he said seriously. Later, once she'd calmed down, he'd gone over everything again and what she should do and not do in each situation, but honestly she hadn't paid as much attention as she should have. She'd thought he was exaggerating, that he'd been overthinking everything, because they've been to loads of villages before. What would make this one any different?

Oh how she regrets that now.

"What, here in this shitty prison cell of a chair? In this vomit inducing room? Here on Earth? Well, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much—"

"Here in Uzushio," the Red Hair Bitch cuts her off. "In this village."

"He said it'd be safer," Nao shrugs, then scoffs. "No idea where he got that idea from. Safer my ass." She very pointedly looks around the room and down at the weird chakra-subduing bracelets on her wrists, then back up at Kayo.

At least the woman has the decency to look somewhat guilty.

A second later and she slips back on the mask of indifference as easily as Nao rips off a pair of shoes, and returns to her irritating line of questioning. "Safer? What would you need to be protected from?"

A few images flit through Nao's mind at that. Metal headbands with foreign symbols inscribed, men and women wearing white flak jackets and swords at their hip, a man stopped in time, unmoving even as Eizo approaches like a predator stalking its prey. A teenage boy running like the devil is at his heels.

Swallowing all of that, she simply says, "Bad people."

Nao makes brief eye-contact with Kayo but quickly averts her gaze, suddenly unable to bear looking at her so directly upon realising she's most likely one of _them._

She's not automatically any safer just because she's not wearing a mask or metal headband.

Kayo leans back and nods as if all of this makes perfect sense and Nao hadn't just said the most pathetic non-answer ever.

Silence stretches on for so long Nao can barely resist fidgeting in her chair, and when Kayo finally stands up she flinches at the noise of Kayo's chair grating against the floor.

"Alright, we're done here. Someone should be back to take those off you soon," Kayo says jovially, vaguely gesturing to the bracelets on Nao's wrists. Opening the door, she then pauses and looks back at a very confused Nao. "Soon being a relative term, of course."

Nao flips the door off as Kayo and Squirrel Guy leave, content with the knowledge that the people on the other side of the glass will at least see her last act of defiance.

—

Takeo shuts the door behind himself and Kayo, then takes up his usual spot in the corner of the room.

A quick glance shows that Kenta is kicked back in his chair and nonchalantly observing the young (boy?) on the other side of the glass, whispering to the bird perched on his shoulder all the while.

Azumi on the other hand is watching the boy with far more intensity, scribbling notes in the book in front of her every time he so much as twitches.

While neither of them would have been his first choice to work together, he trusts Kayo's judgement enough to stay quiet about it.

"So, what do you two think?" Kayo asks once it's clear that neither Kenta nor Azumi will be the first to talk.

"The kid hasn't got a future in the music business, that's for sure. I've heard screaming toddlers that sound better than that," Kenta answers, earning a whack upside the head from Azumi.

Takeo has to resist the urge to hang his head in despair.

"What? Honestly, it's just a kid. A bit ruder than normal, sure, but still a kid. And a scared one at that, even if he hides it well," Kenta says. "It's not like they're a real danger or anything. I doubt he even knows a single D-rank jutsu."

Azumi shakes her head. "That _kid_ can already make basic storage seals, and god knows what else the traitor taught them. You can never be too careful, or do you want to explain to the public why there's an unknown threat running around the village?"

"_Threat!?"_ Kenta splutters, looking horrified. "He's _seven_, eight max, and you're acting like he's a Kiri soldier! What would you have us do, huh? Kick him out to fend for himself? Send him to the wolves? A public execution? Lord, I knew you were cold hearted but I didn't know you were a full fledged psychopath."

"Me, a psychopath? At least I take the safety of the village seriously, you'd throw the gates open for every person that claims to be a lost cause and would have us all killed within the week!"

"Yeah? Well at least I don't get a hard on for human suffering—"

"Oh that's rich, considering what Akiko said yesterday—"

"_Enough," _Kayo cuts in, and immediately they both stop talking, though if glares could kill they'd both be dead within seconds with how they're looking at each other. "Azumi, what do you think we should do?"

Looking smug, Azumi turns away from Kenta to look at Kayo. "Contain him, at least until we know for certain what he's capable of."

"What? That's barbaric—"

"Kenta," Kayo thankfully butts in before another argument can start up. "What do you think we should do?"

Kenta blinks. "Well, if he really did make the storage seals, and he's an Uzumaki… Why not put him in the Academy?"

"You can't be serious—"

"What's your reasoning?" Kayo cuts Azumi off, and Takeo's glad Azumi at least has the decency to not interrupt her.

"There's no way he's going to stop fiddling with fuinjutsu now, it's in the Uzumaki blood, and at least that way he won't blow someone up with a failed seal. Besides, what's the alternative? Keep him locked up for the rest of his life? Kill him off and dump the body? We'd be no better than Kiri."

Azumi looks like she wants to argue further, but thankfully has the sense to stay silent.

Kayo hums. "Kenta, you're right that we can't contain a child for a long period of time," she says, then raises her hands when Azumi starts protesting and Kenta looks a little too smug. "And Azumi, you're correct that we can't let an… _unknown variable_ run around unsupervised."

There's a moment of silence, and then Kayo turns to face Takeo. "What do _you_ think we should do?"

Takeo tilts his head, and mulls it over. Kayo will occasionally ask his opinion when she's already come to a decision but doesn't want to be the one to say it, but that doesn't mean he's used to it, even after all these years. Kayo's games have always been beyond him.

"Don't punish the son for the sins of the father," Takeo eventually says. "Why not send him to the Academy, and also assign him a guard?"

Kayo's smile widens from ear to ear, then she claps her hands. "Well, that's that sorted then! Nao will attend the Academy this year, and you will be assigned to watch over him!"

A rock settles in the pit of Takeo's stomach. Of course she would assign him to the boy, what else did he expect?

Turning to look through the glass, he finds the boy has fogged up the metal of the table and is playing tic-tac-toe against himself— and is losing spectacularly.

This ought to be interesting.


	18. Deal with the Devil

"Nah," Nao says, taking a bite of an apple, "I'm good."

"… You're good," Kayo repeats doubtfully. Squirrel Guy shifts behind her.

"That's what I said."

Kayo takes a slow, deliberate look around the — disgustingly yellow — room, then down at the metal table between them, quirking a brow. "You're good."

"Yup," Nao says, finishing off the apple and throwing the core into the empty bowl in front of her. "What are ya, a broken record?"

Kayo ignores the comment. "You'd rather stay in here forever?"

"Whoever said I'd be here forever?" Nao asks, inspecting the dirt under her nails. Her chin feels slightly sticky from the juice of the apple, but she knows that if she wipes it off that her hand will just be sticky instead, so she leaves it.

Kayo's eyebrow climbs higher still, as if it were a hairy caterpillar trying to get off her face. Nao can empathise. "Oh? And how do you suppose you're going to get out?"

Nao rolls her eyes. "Are you _planning_ on keeping me in here forever?"

A few seconds pass, and then Kayo cracks a grin. "Alright kid, I'll hear you out. Why don't you want to go to the Academy?"

Finally fed up of the stickiness, Nao grabs the end of her shirt and uses it to wipe at her chin, uncaring of the other people in the room — or the people outside it. "I dunno if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly a people person," she answers once she's sure all the juice is gone.

Kayo's grin widens even further, and there's a spark in her eye that Nao's not sure if she likes the look of. "I thought you of all people would appreciate a good learning environment."

Nao scoffs. "Learn what? How to colour inside the lines? How to count to ten? How to tie your shoes? I'll pass."

Looking down at the wooden bowl mournfully, Nao regrets eating so fast. Just minutes ago it had been full of various fruits; the apple, strawberries, grapes and even some cut mango, but she ate it all without tasting it. She'd been too preoccupied with watching Kayo's and Squirrel Guy's movements from the corner or her eye and trying to feed the food to the lizard and herself as quickly as she could before the bowl was taken away again. That urge feels silly now.

"Ah, but that would be the civilian school. While the Academy still deals with the basics of schooling, it specialises in… alternative career pathways."

That's when it clicks. "_Shinobi_ school," Nao says disbelievingly. "You're talkin' about _shinobi _school." Then she narrows her eyes. "What makes you think I'd wanna go to a school that teaches you how to kill people?"

If Kayo is surprised by her bluntness she doesn't show it. "I thought you'd be interested in learning how to _protect_," she answers in the same jovial tone, "and in continuing your fuinjutsu study. The Uzumaki get only the best of mentors, after all."

Nao bites back her instinctive _go screw yourself_ and thinks it over. Truthfully she _does_ want to take up the offer, assuming it's a real one to begin with. The original plan was to learn enough to strike it out on her own, and even though that plan didn't turn out as she'd hoped, this sounds like a good start to getting back on track. Though…

"You haven't mentioned Ei- you haven't mentioned Dad," Nao finally says, tearing her eyes away from the blue bracelets on the table. True to her word, they had been removed when Kayo entered the room.

"I thought you said he could handle himself."

"He can, but that doesn't mean I don't wanna know where he is."

Kayo moves her head from side to side, as if mulling it over. "He's in a room much like this one, only with more… safety precautions."

If these 'safety precautions' are anything like the thing keeping her sat in this damn chair, she promises to give him a break next time she sees him. If only a small one. "Why? He didn't do nothin' wrong."

Squirrel Guy scoffs, then tries to pass it off as a cough. Nao narrows her eyes. "What, you finally got somethin' to say? Go on, tell me one thing he's done wrong."

Squirrel Guy looks to Kayo, but when he gets no signal of any kind from her he assumes his neutral standing position again and looks straight ahead. "That's none of your concern."

"Like hell it isn't!" Nao exclaims, leaping up from her chair —_ since when had she been able to?_ — and taking a step in his direction. "And how would ya know if he's done anythin' wrong, anyway? We only jus' got here!"

Squirrel Guy doesn't say anything more, and it just makes Nao even more angry.

"Now now, Fox, don't be so harsh," Kayo butts in before Nao can _make it_ _**his**_ concern. "It's only natural he'd ask sooner or later. Come, sit back down." As she says it she spreads an arm towards the chair across from her, the corner of her lips curling upward in a wolfish smile.

Nao eyes the chair distrustfully, and nudges it with her foot. It doesn't budge. "I'd rather not, yeah? Too much sittin' is bad for you, or somethin' like that."

Kayo's grin grows wider, and she drops her arm down onto the table. "No matter, we shan't be here for much longer anyway. I can imagine you're getting pretty sick of these four walls, eh?"

Nao stays silent.

"As for what your father has done wrong, I'm sure you'll be able to ask him yourself soon enough. It's hardly our story to tell. But that's him, and we're here about _you._ Should you agree to my offer, you'll be staying with someone I deem fit enough to look after you while you complete your studies. And I _do_ recommend you take me up on my offer, it is by far the most desirable outcome for the both of us."

There's a long pause, the only sound being Nao's heart hammering in her chest. The underlying threat of Kayo's words is subtle enough that she could have imagined it, but that's not very likely.

"… Can I keep the lizard with me?"

Kayo's smile softens to be a touch more genuine. "Of course."

Taking one more sweeping look around the room, Nao sighs in defeat. "Who did ya say I was gonna be stayin' with, again?"

—

"Of course it would be _you_," Nao grumbles as they walk down the street with nothing but the light of the moon and a few dim lanterns to light their way.

Squirrel Guy — Fox? — grunts in agreement. "Trust me kid, I'm no happier than you are."

"Gee, thanks," Nao sniffs. He ignores her.

Fox walks with obvious purpose, weaving from main streets to back alleys and side streets like he's memorised the layout years ago and is taking the shortest route off auto-pilot and muscle memory. Nao almost has to jog to keep up, but she doesn't mind. The last year of traveling has done wonders for her stamina.

She doesn't take in much of her surroundings, content with a quick scan to make sure no one is nearby — she hasn't seen anyone yet — and follow Fox.

It's actually kind of strange just _how_ deserted the streets are, almost like Fox can sense where people are and is consciously avoiding them. Maybe that's why they're moving through the village at night.

Nao glances down at her bag that's held loosely in Fox's hand next to her, but before she can even think about grabbing it he swaps it to his other hand and tightens his grip. "Don't try your luck, kid. I already told you you'd get it back tomorrow morning and not a moment sooner."

"What? I didn't do nothin'."

"Sure," he huffs. "You're the very picture of an innocent angel."

"Why, thank you for noticing," Nao replies with a grin. "It takes a lot of effort to hide my horns."

Nao _swears_ he rolles his eyes under his mask.

A few minutes later and Nao almost slips and falls on her face when she takes a step and instead of feeling the stone path she feels _sand._ Somehow they've arrived at the edge of the buildings without her noticing and are in front of a sprawling beach, golden sand almost glowing under the moonlight. She must be more tired than she thought.

"If you're gonna drown me and dump the body, you could at least be more subtle about it," she says, taking a step back and toeing the line where stone meets sand. She's never been very fond of the grittiness.

"Why would I need to be subtle? It's not like you could get away even with a week's worth of notice," he replies, taking a few more steps before stopping and turning around, realising that she isn't following anymore. "Come on, we're nearly there."

"Nearly _where_?" Nao whines. "You haven't told me where we're goin'!"

"Well, you'll just have to see when we get there."

"Ohhhh no no no no," Nao back pedals, shaking her head and crossing her arms. "I've heard that one plenty of times before an' nothin' good ever comes from it. I'm not going anywhere until you tell me _exactly_ where we're goin'."

"Stop being such a pain and hurry up, or I'll _drag_ you there."

"Pfff, yeah, sure," Nao scoffs. "You try an' I'll just scream. You don't want anyone to know I'm here, yeah? That's why you were avoiding people. I wonder what'd happen if I woke up half the village."

A few tense seconds pass, neither party willing to back down, but Nao is as stubborn as a mule and has had plenty of practise digging her heels in with Eizo. Fox never stood a chance.

"Fine," he exclaims, running a hand through his short teal hair in exasperation. "God, I'm not paid enough for this— It's just my house! We're going to my house, happy? My house is on the beach, over there." As he points, Nao peers behind him, and sure enough there's a large black dot on the horizon looking vaguely house-shaped.

"See, was that so hard?" Nao asks cheerfully, walking past him.

Fox mutters a rather colourful threat under his breath. Nao laughs.

Now that Nao knows where they're going, and that their destination is in sight, she walks much faster than she had been. Not that she'd been dawdling before exactly, more that when you're following a random stranger to an undisclosed location you tend to be pretty apprehensive.

The fact they're walking on sand may also be a factor in her wanting to get there as soon as possible. Scratch that, it _definitely _is.

Sand sucks ass.

It's gritty and gets between your toes and slides under your feet and by god it's bad enough during the day, but at night when you can barely see where you're going and every step you take could be the one that puts you flat on your face it's somehow even _worse._

Fox, the ass, waltzes right past her, having no problem walking on the beach and acting as if he's been doing it his whole life.

Which he probably has.

By the time they reach the house the moon has already started its descent, signalling that it's got to be at _least_ 1am. Nao's really starting to feel it, too, the bags under eyes feeling heavier than usual and her limbs starting to feel like lead. She's ready to collapse onto the nearest patch of grass and pass out for eight hours, only she can't. Because there's no grass anywhere, just sand.

Yellow sand.

At this point, life is just taking the piss.

"Come on," Fox grunts, walking up the front steps and pressing his hand to the front door. There's a brief golden glow as the house shines with seals, and then he's pushing open the door and taking off his shoes. When Nao doesn't make a move towards the house, he looks back over his shoulder. "I said come on," he repeats, "I don't have all night. I want to get at least a few hours sleep in before tomorrow."

Nao takes a few steps forward, slowly climbs the stairs, and stops outside the door. Peering inside, she can't make out much due to there being no light source, but from what she can see it looks nice, if a bit sparse.

She still doesn't walk inside.

"Are you going to stand outside all night or are you going to finally come inside?"

"I don't want to," Nao says, surprising herself. "I'd rather stay out here."

They stare at each other for a few tense seconds, and then he heaves out a long sigh, as if this were all incredibly taxing. Nao can't find it in herself to feel very sorry for him.

"Fine," he says, metaphorically throwing his hands in the air. In reality, all he does is shove his shoes next to the door and gesture vaguely to her left. "Go around the back, I'll be a minute."

Instinctively turning to look where he's pointing, she finds that the front deck indeed wraps around the side of the house, presumedly leading to the back porch. When she turns back around Fox is gone, the door left ajar as if as an open invitation to come inside if she changes her mind.

Wondering what she'd done in her past life to deserve this, Nao meanders her way around the back of the house, trying not to jostle the lizard too much. She still doesn't know where the lizard had been after they took him off her, but the poor thing is exhausted after staying up all night with her.

They'd arrived at the village a little past dawn after already walking for a few hours, and while sitting in that 'waiting room' all day should have been classified as a break, it was the exact opposite. Nao had been alert and on edge the whole time, and it was reminiscent of traveling with Eizo when they both knew there were shinobi watching their every move.

To say she's tired would be the understatement of the century, but she doesn't see an end in sight. Just because she's out of those four, disgustingly yellow walls, that doesn't mean she's any safer.

(She pushes the issue of where Eizo is out of her mind. There's nothing she can do.)

The back of the house looks a lot like the front, there being a deck and stairs that leads down to the beach some twenty meters away from the water. Due to the uneven surface of the sand, the back of the house is propped up on stilts of sorts, and the stairs are a lot steeper than that at the front, but other than that it's nearly a carbon copy. Which isn't really saying much when you take into consideration just how plain the house is.

The back door opens, and Fox appears with a pillow under his arm and holding a bundle of blankets.

"Here, this is going to have to be good enough for tonight."

Nao watches as he dumps them on the floor unceremoniously and turns around, heading back the way he came. Stopping just before shutting the door, he looks over his shoulder. "Don't try and go for a night time swim, I'm activating the security seals and I don't want to be woken up to find your brains all over the wall. Blood is a bitch to clean off the deck."

Once he's gone Nao flops onto the pile of blankets, not even bothering to lay them out neatly. She's slept in far worse places.

Sleep doesn't come easily, her every nerve standing on end and mind still on high alert, but eventually exhaustion wins out and her eyes slide shut.

—

When the rumble of the car cuts off from her mother taking the key out of the ignition, Alex opens her eyes.

Mom goes to say something, then thinks better of it and sighs, undoes her seatbelt and opens the car door, stepping out.

Alex toys with the idea of refusing to get out of the car, but gives up the notion when her mom opens her side door. It would just delay the inevitable, and Alex had already given it her all trying to convince her mom to let her stay home barely thirty minutes ago. Not even the crying trick had worked, which meant her mom wasn't going to budge.

She was just going to have to suck it up.

Getting out of the car while her mom holds the door open, Alex grabs her backpack and slings it over her shoulders. Walking up to the gate, she waits while her mom locks the car, not wanting to go inside alone.

"Don't look so sullen, it's not going to be that bad," her mom says.

"You don't know that," Alex mutters bitterly.

"I had to go once too you know."

"Yeah, like, a million years ago."

Her mom doesn't argue further, simply shaking her head and holding the gate open for her.

Alex walks down the brick path, listening to the soft _klink_ as the gate shuts behind them and is thankful when she sees no one else around. Despite not wanting to come at all, Alex had insisted they get here as soon as possible, wanting to be one of the first kids to arrive. This way she wouldn't have to deal with a hoard of people all at once and can deal with them as they arrive one by one.

Her mom had parked in the space reserved for the kindergarten kids, so her classroom was the first they came across. The pre-primary and kindergarten classrooms were pretty much fully separated from the rest of the school, which is nice. She won't have to deal with older kids for a couple years yet.

Standing back, Alex lets her mom enter the classroom first and trails in after her, noticing a few kids have already arrived. Their parents are still here — a couple moms and a dad — and two of the other kids are already chatting away. It's only then that Alex realises that some of the other kids may already know each other, and the rock that had been in her throat drops into her stomach.

She already wants to leave.

A bubbly blond woman practically materialises next to them and starts talking to Alex's mom, but Alex doesn't pay attention. When the woman appeared out of nowhere Alex immediately took a step back so she's behind her mom's leg — back to the corner of the room, so she can see everyone — and watches as slowly other kids arrive along with their respective parents.

Most of the other parents are carrying their kid's backpack, something Alex's own mom had offered to do, but Alex had insisted on carrying it herself. It's not like it's heavy, only containing her lunchbox and a fidget toy, and Alex likes fiddling with the straps.

After five minutes of no one else appearing, the blond woman — likely her new teacher — starts moving around the room and briefly saying a few words to the parents, and Alex's mom looks down at her.

"I've got to go, okay?" she says, eyeing Alex wearily. "It's only until one o' clock today, remember? It'll be over before you know it."

Tearing her eyes away from watching the other parents telling their kids likely the same thing, Alex looks up at her mom and nods. Her mom looks relieved, and she gives her one last hug before leaving.

Then the screams and crying begin.

Clamping her hands over her ears, Alex looks around in alarm, searching for what could possibly be wrong. Only, after a brief look around with wide eyes, Alex doesn't find anything wrong. Most of the other kids are openly sobbing, clinging to their parents and trying to follow them to the door, desperately trying to bargain and plead to make them stay.

Admittedly, it's very near the same thing Alex had done early this morning, but at least _she'd_ done it at home. These kids are doing it in public, all screaming together in a confined space, and the shrill noise reverberating around the room is already giving Alex a headache.

When the noise doesn't die down — instead getting _louder_ — Alex moves to the other corner of the room and shoves herself between a bookshelf and the wall, hands still clamped over her ears in a vain attempt to dampen the noise.

This is going to be a _long_ day.


	19. New Beginnings

**I don't really do author's notes here because it artificially inflates the word count - I post and have authors notes on AO3 under the same name! - but I just wanted to say THANK YOU! to everyone who reviews/favs/follows! Here's an extra long, 10k chapter as a thank you and an apology for being so late  
**

**Now, back to our scheduled programming  
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* * *

Nao jolts awake when the back door suddenly swings open, Fox stepping through.

Strange dream already fading into the back of her mind, Nao yawns and rubs her eyes while the lizard shifts to her shoulder. Blinking blearily around, Nao notes that the sun hasn't even _started_ to peek over the horizon yet. Looking over to Fox to ask why the hell he woke her up, she pauses after she turns, the gears in her brain slowly chugging away to process what's in front of her.

It's Fox, only he's in different clothes from the day before and his mask is nowhere to be seen. The only reason she even knows it's Fox at all is because he's the only person it _could_ be, assuming he was serious about his warnings of protective seals.

Probably-Fox gets promoted to Definitely-Fox when he looks over at her and rolls his eyes, his spiky faded teal hair swaying when he shakes his head. "Quit dawdling and get up, we've got stuff to do today."

Groaning, Nao flops backwards and stubbornly shuts her eyes, the lizard moving from her shoulder to her chest once again. "The sun ain't even up yet, wake me up when it's time for lunch. Noon would be preferable."

A second later the blanket is ripped off her and Nao instinctively reaches up to snatch it back. Fox, however, balls it up and tosses it over the railing, a soft _poof_ signalling that it landed on the beach sand.

"Up. Now."

Sighing, Nao rolls over and sits up, stretching her arms above her head and yawning. "You're no fun."

"It's not my job to be fun," Fox says, tossing a shirt and a pair of pants her way. Startled, Nao catches them and, upon further inspection, realises that it's one of the spare sets of clothing she'd had stored away in a scroll in her bag. "Hurry up and get changed, I'll be back in a second."

"Wait, what about my bag-" Nao starts to argue, but he's already gone before she can say a single word. Huffing, Nao mutters a curse under her breath and stands up, figuring she may as well change and pester him about it after. She's been stuck in the same clothes for over twenty-four hours by now, after all. It's a wonder the lizard isn't pissed off by the smell.

A few minutes later and Fox once again opens the door, now carrying her bag in his left hand. "Come on," he says, tossing an apple her way. "Let's go."

Catching it, Nao narrows her eyes. "Gimme my bag back, first. You said I could have it."

"I said you could have it back in the morning. It's not morning yet."

Glaring at his back as he walks down the porch steps, she takes a decisive bite out of the apple. She can't exactly argue against his bullshit technicality because it'd discredit any technicalities she's undoubtedly going to use against him in the future, but she doesn't have to _like it._ So in a petty act of rebellion, she flips him off.

"I saw that," Fox calls out behind him.

"Good, I bloody well hope ya did, fucker. At least now I know you had working eyes under that pathetic lump of clay!" she yells back, following after him and taking another bite of the apple. "Where're we goin' anyway? An' where _is_ that ugly ass squirrel mask of yours?"

"_Fox_ mask," he growls, bristling, his hair puffing up like a hedgehog. If she didn't despise him so much she might've found it funny.

"Oh, is that what it was meant to be? I thought the nose looked funny."

No, wait, it's absolutely _hilarious._ No wonder he was hiding behind that mask the whole time, there's no way anyone can take him seriously when he's pouting like a toddler that just got told they can't have another cookie.

"Besides," he charges ahead, ignoring the way she's sniggering. "You can't call me Fox in public. My mask is supposed to be confidential- a secret, in other words."

"Some secret, if a little ol' kid like me knows it. But fine, what do you wish to be called, oh almighty rat of the trees?" Nao asks, happy now that they're off the sand and back onto the road.

Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he grunts. "Name's Takeo, squirt. Genka Takeo."

Taking the last bite of the apple, Nao reaches up and feeds the core to the lizard thoughtlessly, working mostly on autopilot. They can't have been asleep for more than a few hours, and she's quite honestly exhausted. All she can do is put one foot in front of the other and bite back her yawns, following Fox — _Takeo_ — blindly.

There are a few villagers going about their business in the streets despite the early hour, but they ignore them for the most part. A few eyes linger on Takeo, and her by extension, but when Takeo nods his head at them they blush and look away, women and men alike.

Apparently Takeo is popular in the village. Nao doesn't understand why- his looks aren't especially impressive and his personality resembles that of a wet cat. Though maybe they don't know that last bit, he doesn't seem the type to hang around people much in his spare time.

Which is fine by her. She'd rather not spend an extra second around people if she doesn't have to.

They reach their destination quickly- or Nao thought it was quick, anyway. She's not exactly fully awake, per se, and she's sure she'd fall asleep instantly if she sat down, senses on high alert or no.

The building they enter is made of yellow brick with a red tile roof — like most of the buildings in the village, now she thinks about it — but the inside is a stark white. There are people dressed completely in white moving around the space quickly, none of them dawdling, and each of them has a headband featuring a familiar swirl somewhere on their person.

When she and Takeo enter the man at the front desk looks up, as well as a few of the people sitting in the waiting chairs to the left. Judging by the fact pretty much everyone sitting down has some form of injury — some far more severe than others, but none of them looking fatal or like something that needs immediate attention — they're in some sort of healer's building. Though this one is _far_ larger and more organised than any dingy clinic she'd ever seen in the villages she'd visited with Eizo.

Pulled out of her musings when they step in front of the front desk, Takeo says something about an urgent appointment and _oh, I understand you're busy doing good work, but can it please be quick? We have so much to do today, you understand_ and the man takes in Takeo's sickly sweet smile and ducks his head to hide a blush, assuring them someone will be here to see them right away.

Nao raises an eyebrow and levels Takeo with a flat stare, completely unimpressed with his nice guy act. All he does is shrug and usher her over to the side so that they're out of the way.

Perhaps there's a reason people seem to like Takeo so much- he's a good liar. Even Nao herself almost thought him pleasant for a second there.

Just as Nao starts eyeing the floor and wondering if she could get away with taking a quick nap, a woman with frazzled bright red hair wearing glasses an inch thick appears. "This is Nao-kun, I take it?" she asks Takeo, completely ignoring Nao's presence.

"That it is," Takeo answers easily, his eyes sliding around the room as if looking for anyone that could be listening in. "I've got some stuff to do. I'll be back to pick him up in a half hour. That okay?"

"Sure," the woman answers distractedly, all of her attention moving from Takeo to Nao after he confirmed her identity. Not looking offended in the least, Takeo nods and_ disappears _in a swirl of sand.

Muttering under her breath about _'annoying shinobi who never think about the people who have to clean up after them',_ the woman shakes her head and looks back to Nao. "My name is Uzumaki Aki, come with me please."

Turning abruptly and charging ahead, Nao follows, not really understanding what's going on but willing to go along with it. At least this woman didn't fawn over Takeo like everyone else has been.

She leads Nao up three flights of stairs and through so many winding corridors Nao's sure they must have doubled back at least four times by now because there's no way in hell the building she saw from the outside was _this big._

Finally they come to a stop outside a seemingly inconspicuous room, if you ignore the fact there's no door handle in sight. Aki lays her palm against the metal surface of the door and it immediately lights up with the familiar glow of seals, the door sliding open easily.

Thoroughly confused, Nao pokes her head in when Aki strides into the room, expecting to see something unusual to warrant the extra security, but is surprised to see a fairly ordinary looking examination room.

"What's with the security seals? 'S nothin' in here that looks worthy of protectin'," Nao asks, stepping into the room. The door slides shut behind her.

"Huh? Oh, that old thing? It's just to make sure no one comes snooping around that shouldn't be. Shinobi and kunoichi are rather fond of their privacy, you understand. I figured you'd appreciate the same courtesy, considering your situation."

"My… situation?" Nao asks apprehensively, looking around the room. Something about it sparks a weird sense of _deja vu_, but she can't quite pinpoint why.

"Of course. It's not everyday an Uzumaki is born outside the village, you know. No one else knows, if that's what you're worried about. Your file is strictly on a need-to-know basis. Come sit over here, please," Aki points to the examination chair in the middle of the room and Nao pads over to it, grateful to be finally sitting down.

She looks around at the cupboards, diagrams and various substances on the shelves lining the back wall while Aki grabs a pen and paper from a drawer. "These are just some questions you need to fill out— all routine, I assure you. Normally I'd say you can skip any you like, but I've been told you're not allowed to do that, I'm afraid."

Eyeing Aki from the corner of her eye, Nao is surprised to see that she genuinely looks annoyed, as if the orders troubled her. Nao shrugs. "That's fine, though I dunno if I'll be able to answer 'em all."

Aki nods easily and Nao breathes a sigh of relief when she moves the pen to the paper herself and it's made obvious she's going to be the one filling out the answers. Nao doesn't really want to make up some excuse as to why she can't do it herself.

"What's your full name?"

"Nao. Though I think Kayo mentioned something about bein' an Uzumaki, so I guess it's Uzumaki Nao, now."

Aki nods and writes down her answer, and Nao's grateful that she doesn't question the mistake she'd made.

"And your age?"

"Uh," Nao says, unsure. "I've been saying seven, but… To be honest, I don't really know. I don't think I'm any younger than that, though."

Aki pauses but doesn't ask anything further, despite obviously wanting to. "That's fine, I'll put it down as a rough estimate and change it once we find out something a bit more concrete."

Nao wonders how on earth they're supposed to 'find out something more concrete' but doesn't question it.

"Do you have any existing conditions or genetic predispositions? Anything that runs in your family?"

Nao frowns, and shakes her head. "Don't think so."

"Any past illnesses?"

Nao goes to shake her head again, but stops when she remembers something. "There was one winter where I couldn't stop coughing and my chest really hurt, and it lingered even into spring and early summer. But that was a few years ago."

Muttering something under her breath Nao can't hear, Aki jots down her answer. "Probably bronchitis or mild pneumonia, I'll check your lungs for any lingering damage during the examination."

"Examination?" Nao asks, shifting uncomfortably.

Looking up and seeing Nao's worried expression, Aki's face softens. "It's quick and painless, you won't feel a thing. It's something we do for everyone that plans on living in-village long term, just to make sure you're generally healthy." When Nao doesn't look any more at ease, Aki puts down the paper and pen and turns to face her. "We're about done with the questions I can ask you, so why don't I show you what I mean?"

Weary but at least a little bit curious, Nao nods and scoots a bit closer.

Lifting her hand, Aki breathes out and her hand begins to _glow_ with a calming green light. Before Nao can ask what the hell is going on, Aki moves her hand to her own chest and closes her eyes, eyebrows pinching in concentration.

"My heart rate is at forty-six beats per minute— dangerously low for a civilian, but within the normal range for a shinobi. My lungs are healthy, but my left ulna is still a little weak from breaking it a few months ago. My brain function is a little slower than normal, however that's just from working the night shift. It'll go back to normal once I finally get some sleep."

Nao stares in shock and awe as Aki lowers her hand and opens her eyes, the glow cutting off. "Ya can tell all that jus' from a weird glowy hand?"

"Yep, and a lot more if I'm looking for something specific, but I won't bore you with the gorey details. Now, may I?" Aki asks, gesturing to Nao's own chest.

Excitement taking over her trepidation, Nao nods eagerly and scoots right to the edge of the examination chair, eyes wide in wonder.

Hand once again glowing with green light, Aki slowly places it on Nao's chest and slides her eyes shut.

At first nothing happens, but then Nao can feel a warmth spreading from her chest outwards. It feels strange, like the warmth of a campfire and the crackling energy Nao feels right before she activates a seal all mixed together. Once it's spread completely from the top of her head to the tip of her toes it _flares_ and then starts to recede.

Just as she thinks the examination is over, the now-tennis-ball sized mass of energy moves to the middle of her chest, right where her lungs would be. There's a brief flare and crackle of energy, like a campfire when a new log of wood is tossed on it, but it quickly dims down to the soothing energy of before and Nao takes a deep breath in.

The energy putters out and Aki leans back and opens her eyes. Nao takes another breath and it's like a weight she hadn't even known had been there is lifted- she can breathe much more deeply than she had been able to before and all previous tiredness is long forgotten.

"What _was that?"_ Nao asks breathlessly, eyes searching Aki's as if the answer were held in the deep pools of blue and she could find them if she just looked hard enough.

"A simple diagnostic jutsu. Towards the end there I healed some scarring in your lungs most likely left over from the illness you mentioned, you should find that you can breath a lot easier now. Honestly, it's amazing you could function as well as you had been, I've had grown men come in here with far less claiming they were on their deathbed before."

Not knowing what to say to that, Nao reaches up and scratches the head of the now-awake lizard while he stretches. "I dunno. I guess I figured it was normal."

Smiling sadly, Aki's expression shifts back to that of professional indifference so quickly Nao wonders if she'd imagined it. "Right, well I'd pin your age more towards eight years old rather than seven. When was your birthday again?"

"Late winter or early spring," Nao answers.

"Hmm, probably the birthday that just passed was your eighth, then," Aki replies easily, not even blinking when the lizard pokes his head out from her shirt. "It's no wonder you thought you were younger; your growth has been stunted for a while, though I anticipate you'll catch up with your peers by the time puberty rolls around, as long as you keep getting the right nutrition with a decent diet."

The amount of fierce _understanding_ leaves Nao at a complete loss, and all she can do is nod.

Brows pinching together and biting her lip, Aki looks conflicted about something, and just as Nao is about to ask what's wrong she looks Nao in the eye with such intensity it pins her in her seat. All Aki does is study her, eyes searching Nao's own as if looking for an answer to an unsaid question. Then, seemingly satisfied by what she found, Aki smiles down at her, visibly switching back to the detached professionalism from before.

"It's your chakra pathways that concern me the most. Your coils are damaged and underdeveloped, causing your core to constantly distribute chakra to keep them somewhat stable. I can fix some of the damage if you like, but I'm afraid it's up to your body to do the rest."

Staring dumbly, Nao tries to process the information. There's something wrong with her chakra system, which may be the reason her chakra is so…. dispersed. But Aki can fix it. Mostly.

Maybe it's because she only just fixed her lungs and Nao can _breathe_ so much easier, but the prospect of this woman doing anything more to help her nearly brings tears to her eyes.

But it doesn't. Because Nao doesn't cry.

"Yes, please," Nao answers. Aki smiles. 

* * *

When Nao exits the hospital — and oh how she'd been embarrassed that she hadn't remembered the word _hospital!_ — she has to suck in a gasp at what she sees.

The sun has just about finished peeking over the horizon and is casting a golden-orange glow across the entire village, red tile roofs and yellow stone paths seeming to _glow_ in the warm light. The streets are now bustling with activity, adults chatting together as they go about the daily chores or buying wares from shops and young kids laugh in delight as they play games of tag, weaving in and out of streets and ducking around adults that look on fondly. There's a loud coo as a bird flies through the hospital's open window, and when she looks up she notices dozens of differently coloured birds criss-crossing through the sky overhead, each one flying so fast they're nothing but a multicoloured blur.

The sight catches her off guard, and she's glad Takeo is behind her so he can't see her look of shock.

"Alright, let's get a move on. You'll be late if we dawdle any longer and the Academy teachers are strict about being on time," Takeo says as he walks forward with a piece of paper containing the 'non classified' version of what Aki had written up in hand.

(Why _anything_ to do with Nao is classified doesn't really make sense to her but hey, if it means less people try to pry information from her then who's she to complain?)

"Gimme my bag then," Nao replies, feet rooted to the spot and sending him a glare that clearly communicates that she doesn't intend to move an inch until he hands it over. "Ya said I could have it in the morning. Well, the sun's up, asshole. Hand it over."

He throws her bag over his shoulder without even looking back, and Nao scurries to grab it before it can hit the ground. Jogging to catch up, she jabs an elbow into his side in retaliation but he steps out the way before it can connect.

Nao opens her bag to rifle through it to see if everything is still in it while Takeo scans the paper in his hand, both of them speed walking through the streets, Takeo automatically weaving through the crowd and Nao following easily.

"Eight years old, huh?" Takeo says finally after a few minutes of silence, talking in a low voice so those around them don't hear. Not like it would matter anyway, the streets are loud enough that she doubts anyone could hear them even if they were yelling from the rooftops.

"Hey, it's not like I lied or nothin'," Nao replies, closing her bag once again and pulling the strap over her shoulder once she's sure the only thing missing is her small stash of 'exploding' tags.

No matter, she'll just have to make some more.

"It's just weird. Normally kids your age are counting it down to the month."

Nao rolls her eyes. It's obvious he doesn't trust a word she says, but this is just ridiculous. "Why would I lie about somethin' as dumb as my age?"

"I know you weren't lying, that's the problem."

Nao sends him a confused look. "You…. what, _wanted_ me to lie? What kinda fucked up logic is that?"

Takeo hums noncommittally and shakes his head.

The absolute weirdo. Imagine _wanting _someone to lie to your face, that's just batshit. Yet again, no one Nao has seen so far has made much sense. Maybe there's something in the water here. Or everyone was dropped on their heads as a baby. That would explain some things.

By the time they reach their destination the sun has fully risen above the horizon and even more people are out and about, though the Academy itself seems suspiciously quiet.

"What time did ya say it started again?" Nao asks, eyeing Takeo from the corner of her eye.

"In about forty minutes."

"What? You said we were gonna be late you absolute fuckin' _liar-"_ Nao whirls around to face him, only to find empty air and a small, quickly-settling cloud of sand on the ground in his place. The bastard.

Nao debates leaving and coming back later, but decides against it. She's not sure she could find her way back if she left to wander. (This village is huge!)

Grumbling, she shoves her hands into her pockets and stalks forward to the front door, smiling at the lizard when he pokes his head out of her shirt. As she opens the door and steps through he scrambles to get atop her head, so she dips it lower for him, then adjusts her shirt once he's settled.

Looking around, Nao spots what must be the front desk and pads her way over to stand in front of it, glaring up at the man sitting behind it doing paperwork.

"Yes?" he asks without looking up or pausing his writing.

"I dunno where I'm supposed to go."

"Class placements were handed out yesterday."

"Well I wasn't here _yesterday_ now was I? So are ya gonna tell me where the hell I'm supposed to be or am I gonna have to figure it out myself?" Nao snaps, her annoyance flaring at the man's total dismissal.

_Finally_ looking up, his eyebrows raise when he spots the lizard sat atop her head. "You the new brat with Takeo?"

"The one and only."

Letting out a long sigh as if all of this is incredibly taxing for him, he rifles through the papers on his desk, grabbing the one he'd presumedly been looking for a few seconds later. "Name?"

"Mary fucking Sue. What do you _think_ it is, asshole?" Nao growls. Honestly, this whole thing is just a massive waste of effort, she should have just tried to find her way around by herself. It's not like she doesn't have enough time.

The man mutters something about _self-righteous clan brats_ under his breath and points down a hall to the left. "Room 3B."

Sending him one last glare, Nao turns and stalks down the hall. Luckily there are only three doors — because while she can recognise a few numbers, she's not confident enough to get it right — and she walks up to the last one and opens the door.

To her surprise, it's not completely empty. There's a kid that looks to be her age sitting up the back, mousey brown hair flopping in front of his eyes with his head in his hand and looking utterly bored. Nao can relate.

"This 3B?"

Startling, his eyes snap in her direction and he gives one short nod before going back to looking at the board on the back wall. Shrugging, Nao marches up the stairs and plops herself behind the desk pushed against the wall in the back corner, which just so happens to be the desk next to the other kid. She can see the whole room from up here, and it soothes her nerves somewhat.

Only somewhat, though. The rest of her is still itching to get out of the building. She's not used to being in such enclosed spaces, which is part of the reason she didn't want to sleep in the house last night. It's uncomfortable not being able to see the sky, feel the wind or just know that she can move around freely.

She feels trapped.

Slumping in her chair, Nao rests her head in her arms, being careful as the lizard climbs down from her head and onto the desk. Smiling, she moves her finger around the desk for him to chase, and each time he tries to snap at her finger she pulls it away at the last second. After a few minutes she catches the other kid watching her from the corner of her eye and he looks away, colour rising to his cheeks. Nao snorts.

Once the lizard grows tired of the game he climbs onto her arm in front of her face and she scratches the top of his head. "You're more energetic than usual, huh?" she whispers affectionately, and the lizard blinks up at her, then boops her nose with his.

If her heart melts a little and she kisses the top of his head, well. It's not like there's anyone around to see.

Except the kid that's once again stealing glances in her direction.

Rolling her eyes, Nao ignores him and closes her eyes. She only got a few hours sleep last night, and she doubts anyone else is going to show up for a while…. surely closing her eyes for a bit won't hurt.

Just to rest her eyes.

For a little… while…

The door opening pulls Nao from her slumber, and she blinks blearily at the gaggle of giggling kids filing in. The brown haired boy has gone back to staring at the board, head in hand, but he looks significantly more stiff now that the group of kids have settled themselves at the desks in front and around them.

A few minutes later and the vast majority of the desks are occupied by kids, most of them chatting away with each other as if they've known each other for years. Which they probably have, now that she thinks about it. They did literally grow up together in the same village.

The feeling of _outsider_ might have bothered her if she gave any semblance of a shit about the idiots filling the room. Luckily for her she's had enough experience around kids and adults alike to know they're not even remotely worth her time. It'll be a cold day in hell when she takes it upon herself to seek out any of these nitwits for something as asinine as _friendship._

The door opens again and the whole room falls silent, all eyes falling on the person that's walking into the room.

Tearing her eyes away from where she'd been watching the lizard nap, Nao raises her head and sits back in her seat when she sees the person that must be the teacher. She's a tall woman, all wiry muscle and sharp features, with long light grey hair with flecks of green and purple dotted throughout. What really catches Nao's attention, though, is the _bird_ sitting on her shoulder.

It's a small thing, mostly comprised of white and light brown feathers except for a small patch of grey on its chest. Now that Nao is sitting up and isn't half asleep she looks around the room and finds that a good handful of the kids in the classroom have their own birds either on their shoulder or on the desk in front of them. All of them have the same strange grey hair with specks of green and purple; shades of grey varying and some with more or less colour than others.

The sight of them reminds her of the birds constantly flying overhead outside, and something Eizo had mentioned is tugging at the back of her mind- the Shinshiro clan, was it? Chinshiru?

She really should have paid more attention.

"Right," the woman starts, and instantly the few remaining people that had been whispering to each other in hushed voices fall silent. "My name is Kushiro Rei, and my partner is Suzume. I'd ask for your names but chances are most of you won't be in my class, so I won't bother," Rei's eyes roam over the room, and when she spots Nao at the back an easy grin slides onto her face like oil. "Today we'll be doing various placement tests, and at the end of it you will get your _real_ class assignments. Well, that or get kicked out, if you score low enough. But it's best not to dwell on that."

The whispers start up again amongst some of the kids, though Nao notes that none of the teal-haired, Uzumaki or Kushiro kids seem surprised. Or worried. Which either means they knew about that last bit already or are confident enough that they won't be on the chopping block.

The brown haired boy next to her rolls his eyes and mutters something under his breath Nao doesn't catch.

"Since I'm not one to waste time, I'll cut right to the chase. This first test is a fairly short written one, testing general knowledge, yada yada. Here, take one and pass it on." Rei produces a stack of paper and pencils and passes it to one of the kids at the front. A couple minutes later and Brown Haired Boy next to Nao is passing her the last bundle of papers with the bluntest pencil Nao's ever seen, which she takes gingerly.

There are only three pages, but when she checks there's writing on both front and back of them along with spaces to write down answers.

Not that _she'll_ be writing down any answers.

Or reading the questions.

She's screwed.

"Right," Rei says, regaining the room's attention. She walks behind the large desk at the front of the room and sits heavily in the chair, kicking her feet up. "You have thirty minutes to complete as many questions as you can, starting… Now."

Immediately there's a loud collective rustle of paper and scratches of pencil as practically every kid in the room starts frantically filling out questions or flipping through the pages to read through them all.

Well, every kid except for Nao and Brown Haired Boy, anyway. Brown Haired Boy is intensely reading through his own test, filling out the odd short question here or there and taking his time. And Nao — for obvious reasons — hasn't spared much of a glance to her paper and is instead looking around with wide eyes, wondering what the hell she's going to do now.

If she completely flunks the first test does that mean she automatically gets kicked out?

The cold horror of _failing_ grips her heart and squeezes, causing her to feel even more out of breath than right after bolting from an angry store owner.

If she gets kicked out… then what?

Eizo went to _so much trouble_ just to get them here! This was the _one_ real thing he's asked of her the entire time she's known him. _Stay safe and learn as much as you can._

And she can't even manage that.

Because she's a fuckin' idiot that _can't rea-_

"Hey."

Startling from the whisper, Nao looks up from where she'd been staring blankly at the paper in front of her to look over to the boy next to her, wondering if she'd imagined it.

"What's your name?"

Nope, that's definitely real. He's glancing at her from the corner of his eye, eyesight darting between her and the teacher up the front and his hand hovering above the paper in front of him. The teacher still has her feet kicked up on the desk and now has her eyes closed, the bird on her shoulder puffed up and its head down as it sleeps.

"Uh, Nao," she whispers back, utterly confused. "Wha-"

"Here," he cuts her off, scribbling something at the top of his paper and shoving the bundle her way, holding it out for her to take, gesturing urgently. "Give me yours."

Utterly confused, Nao wordlessly takes the offered papers and hands him hers. Instead of offering any sort of explanation, he switches back to totally ignoring her very existence and starts filling out answers a lot faster than he had been before.

Blinking, Nao looks down at the papers still clutched in her hand and finds that the empty spaces have been filled with writing. Flipping through the rest of them, she finds that _all_ the empty spaces are filled, and there's even some small writing at the very top of the first page.

"Five minutes to go," Rei calls out, still not opening her eyes. The bird on her shoulder coos softly.

Five minutes?! Just how long had she been staring into space for?

Once again looking around, Nao finds that most kids are on the last page, some even sticking out their tongues comically in concentration. The few that aren't furiously writing are leaning back in their chairs, presumedly finished.

If it's taking people the full half hour to complete the test how does Brown Haired Boy expect to finish it again in under _five minutes?_

Sneaking another look at the teacher, Nao decides that yes, she's not even remotely bothering to pretend to be watching them and turns to watch the boy next to her, only to tilt her head in surprise. He's already halfway through the test, hand flying across the page so fast she wonders if he even knows what he's writing. When he finishes a question he doesn't even bother pausing to read the next one, simply charging ahead.

Within two minutes he's on the last page and Nao stares on in amazement as he finishes the last few questions in less than thirty seconds.

Sure, he could be writing complete bullshit and be getting everything horribly wrong, but somehow she doubts he's got a single question incorrect. He's too…

Confident.

"And that's time," Kei says, opening her eyes and stretching her arms above her head, her bird also waking up and stretching its wings. "Please place your tests in a neat pile on my desk on your way out. I'll meet you outside in the training ground behind the school."

After a tense moment of silence, kids start getting up and filing out, soft chatter once again starting and rising in volume quickly. Stealing one last glance at Brown Haired Boy, he once again ignores her and gets up to leave, so she shrugs and follows suit.

When Nao places her test on the pile on her way out all Kei does is raise her eyebrows, grin widening to show more teeth. 

* * *

Thoroughly out of breath, Nao bends over and puts her hands on her knees, gasping and head spinning. "Fixed lungs" or no, long distance running is definitely not her strong suit.

But she'd somehow managed to not be dead last, so she'll count it as a win.

The second 'test' was simple; an endurance test. All they had to do was run as many laps around the training ground as they could. Simple. Easy. Hard to fuck up.

Or so she'd thought.

Because the 'training ground' is a goddamn hellscape.

At first she'd thought the ground to be simply made of some kind of yellow stone, which is mostly true, except that there's also a not-so-small layer of _sand_ over the top. Running on sand is by far the most annoying thing in the entire universe, and if Nao could eradicate every single grain of the substance then she would dedicate her entire life to doing just that. With a flamethrower.

Once the last of the kids conk out and collapse, Rei claps her hands. "Alright! Once you're all done being dramatic we'll go onto the next and final test."

Nao's pleased to see it's not just her that sends their 'teacher' a nasty glare at that, even the clan kids that lasted the longest are sending her dirty looks once her back is turned.

Suddenly her earlier declaration that she probably won't be their teacher sounds less like a snide jab at their competence and more like a relief.

"The last test is incredibly straightforward. All you have to do is throw these kunai," Kei produces a leather bag from nowhere and tosses it to the ground, a few dull black blades spilling out onto the sand. "At _those _targets," she finishes, pointing at the back of the training ground, where there are indeed several round targets up against one of the school's back walls, which has various nicks and chips in the stone.

Kei starts directing them to get into groups of four, and Nao ends up getting put in the group of leftovers along with Brown Haired Boy and two others. Lucky for her neither of the others — a girl and a boy — seem the talkative type, and Nao watches the proceedings without distraction.

She watches as Kei motions for the first group to step forward, three of them obviously incredibly nervous while the fourth, a boy with short dull red hair, is considerably less so. Each of them are handed three dull kunai and told to stand a fair distance away from the targets, behind a line in the sand Kei had drawn.

Then, once everyone else is standing far enough away that they won't get caught by a stray kunai no matter how shitty their aim is, Kei signals for them to start throwing. And-

Oh. _Oh._ So that's how it's going to be.

The first three kids' throws go wide, hitting the wall and clattering to the floor nowhere near their intended targets. The fourth kid's throw— the only clan kid in the group — while nowhere near perfect, at least manages to hit the edge of the target and gets stuck in the wood.

Wincing, Nao can see now why the targets are placed against a wall. At least this way the kunai won't fly _too_ far away.

After a moment they throw again, much to the same result. The first three kids' throws once again go wide, though not quite as bad, and the fourth boy's sinks into the edge of the target again. The third throw surprises her, but only because the first girl manages to get her kunai to graze the edge of the target. All of them except the fourth boy's kunai still ultimately miss and clatter to the floor, though.

Kei gives them a half-hearted congratulations and motions for four more kids to take their place, then the cycle begins all over again.

Slowly but surely each group has their turn — clan kids always doing significantly better than the civilians — and the group of kids still yet to go gets smaller and smaller, until it's just Nao, Brown Haired Boy and two others; a teal haired boy and a wide eyed Kushiro girl with a cream coloured bird perched on her shoulder.

Kei motions for them to step up, and Nao does so with a hint of trepidation. Looking to the right, Nao watches as Brown Haired Boy (she really should ask for his name) and the other two bend to pick up the kunai by their feet.

Biting the inside of her cheek, Nao stoops down to pick up her own, fiddling so she can hold two in her left hand while she throws the third with her right.

"Alright, let's wrap this up," Kei says. "Go on. I have other things I want to do today."

Nao wonders if all shinobi are this rude or if Kei and Takeo are just kindred spirits.

Shrugging, Nao pulls her arm back, waits until the others are doing the same, then throws.

Miss.

Moving another kunai to her right hand, she pulls her arm back, waits, then throws.

Another miss. This time her aim was somehow _worse._

Sighing, she moves the last kunai to her right hand and flips it over, watching the sun's reflection move across the dull blade. It's got various nicks, scratches and grooves all over the metal and the material on the handle is worn so thin it's a marvel that it hasn't torn off yet.

Taking a deep breath, she pulls her hand back and aims, trying to steady her arm. The kunai feels awkward in her grasp and she wonders if she's even holding it right. Kei hadn't given them any instruction.

Finally getting her arm to stop shaking quite as much, Nao plants her feet firmly on the floor and thro-

"You going to throw already?"

-and jolts in surprise, her whole body jumping at the unexpected noise right next to her. Nao doesn't even look to check where her kunai had landed, instead taking a step backwards and looking up at Kei who had moved to stand directly next to her. "The hell is your problem?" Nao snarls, so over her bored, _I'm better than you_ attitude.

Brown Haired Boy sucks in an audible breath, but Nao just keeps glaring up at Kei, uncaring.

Kei shrugs and turns to face the other kids, ignoring Nao's scowl. "Well, now that that's _finally_ over," Nao's glare intensifies, "you're all free to go. The actual class assignments will be listed on the front door tomorrow, don't be late." There's a moment of silence, no one quite sure what to do, and Kei throws her hands up. "Scram! Get out of here, I don't have time to babysit you."

Suddenly the group of kids all start moving, either to walk around the school and leave or find their friends so they can walk home together. Kei straight up vanishes in a swirl of sand just like Takeo had earlier that day and no one even bats an eye. It's then that Nao decides that yes, this is just a normal thing shinobi do.

Grumbling, Nao remembers she meant to ask Brown Haired Boy his name and turns to try and find him, but he's already gone. Sighing, she turns to look at the targets, curious as to how he'd done compared to the others.

The two targets farthest away — that of the teal haired boy and Kushiro girl — each have three kunai stuck in the wood, most of them around the edge, but one of the girl's managed to hit the middle ring, which is really cool. Only a small handful of others managed to hit the middle ring.

Brown Haired Boy's — she should _really_ find out his name soon, it's getting old — target surprisingly has two in it, though both are on the_ very_ edge and it's a wonder they haven't fallen out yet.

Then she turns to her own target to see how her last throw did, and it causes her to stop. Blink. Process.

The last kunai she'd thrown hadn't hit dead centre, but it's damn close. Logically she knows the only reason it even hit the target at all had been because Kei'd startled her, putting her throw off, but—

But it's still pretty cool.

Looking around, Nao finds that she's pretty much left completely alone, and looks back to the target.

Frowning, she thinks back on how nearly every clan kid had done so much better than the others, at how clear it was that they'd been practising for a while. If the village kids here are anything at all like the kids everywhere else, she doubts they'd have practised anything like it before, too busy helping out their parents with chores or playing games.

Sure, they'll probably start learning soon enough, but it still leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Nao's already far behind everyone else f_or_ everything else, she can't afford for this to be another.

Looking around one last time to make sure no one is around, Nao then walks up to the target and pulls the third one she'd thrown out of the wood. Flipping it over, she decides it's so beat up and worn down that no one will miss it and slips it into her bag, thankful that she has enough papers and clutter inside that it's easily hidden beneath. Though she has a few storage scrolls, they're all full of clothes and other nick-nacks. She should really sort those some time.

Stretching, she tilts her head so the lizard can climb atop and soak in the sun's rays, then heads off to walk around the school and towards the street. When she gets there she finds a few kids still lingering and others with their parents chatting excitedly.

It's only then that she realises she has no idea where to go.

She could probably find her way back to the beach house, she knows the general direction, but finds that she doesn't want to. It's boring there and the sun is still high in the sky, probably only being midday. Still, the village is so _large_ that even if she only wanders for a small amount of time there is an incredibly high likelihood of getting completely and utterly lost.

But maybe… Maybe getting lost isn't such a bad thing. If she's going to be stuck here for who knows how long she may as well get to know the place she's going to be living in, and what better way to get to know it than to get horrifically lost?

Mind made up, Nao turns to walk down the street, then takes a random left, then a right. Eventually she finds herself at one of the larger streets and finds that it's some kind of market, only there aren't any vendors selling their wares out in the street and instead people walk into the stores to buy things. Each store has a large window at the front and a selection of items proudly displayed behind the glass that show what kind of shop it is. Most of the stores have different sorts of clothes, but a couple have accessories like belts, boots and scarves, and yet a few more display more specific items like glasses, rings and necklaces.

Nao walks down the street and marvels at the different sorts of clothes, everything so different to any of the other countries she's visited. This place seems to favour more practical clothing, like pants and shirts, but that doesn't stifle the creativity. If anything it seems to challenge them to design clothes that both look unique and are functional, resulting in form-fitting clothes with various hidden pockets made of rich purples, reds, oranges, golds and yellows.

She keeps looking until she spots a few people giving her confused looks, at which point she takes her leave and ducks down another side street. She's about to exit into another larger street when a shadow passes overhead, then another, and another.

Looking up, Nao manages to spot someone dart across the roof above her head and she stops dead in her tracks. The lizard chirps as he starts slipping, and she reaches up to move him onto her shoulder, an idea coming to mind.

Is it an insane idea? Maybe. Is it dangerous? For sure. Is she going to do it anyway?

Of course she is.

Turning down another side street, then another and another, she keeps weaving through them until she comes across what she's been looking for. An alley wall.

Making sure the lizard is secure on her shoulder, she takes a few steps back, rolls up her sleeves, then _runs._ Feet pounding against the stone path, she waits until she's a few feet away from the alley wall and _jumps._

Severely out of practise, when her feet scrabble for purchase on the bricks her toes find the grooves between the bricks too late and she falls back on her butt. Undeterred, she grits her teeth, gets up, walks backwards, and tries again.

The second time is better, but she still doesn't quite make it to the top, and this time the fall is harder. Groaning and rubbing her backside, she gets up, steps even further back for a larger runner-up and tries again.

This time her feet find purchase easily and her hands manage to grab the top of the wall, and she hauls herself up onto the ledge.

Panting and breathing heavily, Nao sits there for a few minutes to catch her breath, and looks down. She's higher up than she remembers being for a long time and she grins to herself.

She's still got it.

Once her chest doesn't burn and her breathing steadies she slowly gets to her feet and holds out her arms for balance. Looking side to side, she decides that she'd rather go right, and makes her way over to the slanted roof. When she steps onto it she's amazed that the tiles don't move beneath her at all. Taking a step forward, then another, she finds it's much like walking parallel to an incline and drops her arms to her side.

The village looks much different from up here, and she can see much further, the birds flying across the sky much clearer. It's only then that it hits her just _how large_ the village is, to the point that the word village feels severely inadequate. The golden glow of the sun plays beautifully on the red tiles of the roofs and they stretch on for as far as the eye can see, rippling across the horizon like the sand dunes she'd seen in the Land of Wind. It's very likely that they stretch across the whole island.

Grin splitting even wider on her face, she makes sure that the lizard is still secure and happy — he's napping, the weirdo — and makes her way across the roof. When she reaches the end she easily steps across to the next roof and keeps going. Once she's confident that she won't slip and fall if she looks away for a moment, she turns to watch the people below go about their lives.

From up here they look so different. She can barely see the details of their clothing due to the angle and she finds herself distinguishing them more by hair colour than anything. After a while she finds that most people's hair is either brown, yellow, red, or the weird grey with dots of green and purple. There are very few people with teal hair, and the few that do usually have the strange shinobi headbands somewhere on their person.

No one bothers to look up, probably too used to people darting across the roofs and birds darting overhead to bother. Nao's spotted quite a few others run across the rooftops in the distance but none of them are close enough to notice her. Or they just don't care.

Coming to the end of the roof she'd been on, this time she has to hoist herself up onto the next one as it's a good half-dozen feet higher. Hooking her leg over the ledge, she hoists herself up and rolls over onto her back, panting at the exertion. Groaning, Nao climbs to her feet and stretches, cracking the joints in her back.

Just as she's about to keep going a bird flies right in front of her face causing her to take a step back. Miscalculating how much space she has, she slips and falls, back hitting the roof below with a harsh _thud_ and she rolls, rolls _rolls_ right off the roof, she throws her arm up to grab the ledge but misses by a hair's width—

Only for someone to grab her hand and pull her back up.

Groaning and rubbing her back — she already feels a bruise forming, damn it — she looks up to find Takeo watching her intently. "The hell? You been following me or somethin'?"

Scoffing, he throws his hands in the air and shakes his head. "I save you from becoming a smear on the pavement and the first thing that comes out your mouth is 'were you following me'? No, 'oh thank you so much for saving me, you're my hero Takeo!' or 'you're the best, Takeo! I owe you my life!'?" He says the last part in a high-pitched voice that grates on her nerves, clearly doing a comical imitation of her own voice.

Glaring up at him, Nao relaxes and waves him off. "We're not _that_ high up, I would a been fine on my own."

"Yeah, sure, you're just lucky I found you when I did. I've been looking for you everywhere, I'm starving. I know this nice little takeout place on Taro Street, does dumplings that are to die for. I was going to grab them first but figured I should find you before you start causing too much trouble."

Perking up at the mention of food, Nao's eyes flash with mischief and she grins. "Takeout place, huh? Can we take the roofs there?"

"And risk having someone see and think me irresponsible? Not a chance. Do dumb shit on your own time, not when _I'll_ be the one to take the blame."

Well, that was basically permission, wasn't it? 

* * *

Picking up the last dumpling from the container Takeo is holding, Nao ignores his grunt of protest and takes a large bite. The lizard is already borderline comatose from eating his share of dumplings, curled up on her shoulder and eyes half-closed, and she takes careful steps across the sand of the beach to avoid jostling him.

"See? I told you the dumplings were the best," Takeo says while putting the empty container back into the brown paper bag. "Nothing beats Mako's."

Popping the last of the dumpling in her mouth, Nao chews and swallows. "Mmm, they're good, but nowhere near the best."

"Oh? And where do you think you can get better?" Takeo asks, doubt dripping from every word.

"The Land of Wind," she answers confidently. "Their pork and cabbage dumplings can't be beat." And indeed they can't, much to Nao's disappointment. She and Eizo had lived on takeout and those damned ration bars in the Land of Wind, the desert not having a whole lot of natural food. After they left the desolate wasteland behind she still insisted they have takeout every now and then, but no matter how many dumpling places they tried nothing compared to the Land of Wind's.

Takeo's eyebrows shoot up, almost blending into his hairline with how high they go. "The Land of Wind, huh? I can't say I've been there, but if I ever visit I'll be sure to try some of these magic dumplings."

"You've never been?" Nao asks, shocked. "Surely you have! It's not _that_ far away, don't you travel at all?"

Takeo hums, and tilts his head in thought. "Uzushio shinobi, during peacetime, mostly work in-village or run escort missions around the Land of Fire. I wasn't old enough to have served at the front lines in the Great War, so the furthest I've been is the Land of Rivers. My prior appointment didn't lend itself to travel."

"Prior appointment?"

All Takeo does in reply is tap his nose knowingly, much to her irritation. Fine. If he's done giving out information for free, all that means is she'll have to find out for herself.

Somehow.

By the time they reach Takeo's beach house the sun has been down for a few hours, the moonlight reflecting on the ocean and bathing the world in a dull blue light. As they walk up the front porch steps Nao's amazed that none of the beach sand is on the wooden deck. Surely it would have blown in from the winds?

"There's some stuff 'round the back for you," Takeo says, and Nao peers at him suspiciously. "If they don't fit we can go back and swap them, so just let me know soon. Otherwise, goodnight. I'll see you in the morning."

He opens the door and gives a lazy wave before disappearing into the house, the door left slightly ajar. Shrugging, Nao wanders around to the back of the house again. Yawning, she rubs her eyes and looks around, then stops dead when she rounds the corner.

There's a large hammock hanging from the rafters and a pile of clothes and blankets bundled up in it. Walking towards it slowly, Nao reaches a hand out to pick up the shirt lying on the top of the pile. The material is soft and sturdy, something that will feel comfortable and won't tear easily. It's a lovely deep purple colour and is large enough that the lizard could comfortably sit on her shoulder beneath the fabric.

Putting it aside, she finds multiple of much the same thing in varying colours and a few pairs of pants and shorts. The pants are made of a much thicker and rougher material, with front and back pockets that are deep and large enough she could keep the stolen kunai in them and no one would be able to tell.

At the bottom of the pile are two large, gloriously fluffy blankets that Nao can't help but rub her hands over.

Overall the haul must have cost a fortune. Surely Takeo wouldn't have bought it all for her and expect nothing in return, but he hadn't mentioned any kind of payment…

Shaking her head, Nao sighs and moves the clothes into a neat pile on the floor and clambers into the hammock, wrapping the blankets around herself. For now she'll try not to worry about it. She's exhausted.


End file.
